The use of environmental enrichment on farms benefits animal welfare and productivity

Livestock ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-188
Author(s):  
Sarah L Bolt ◽  
Adam J George
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Production Animals ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Housing Facilities

Environmental enrichment is a key aspect of animal welfare and productivity. Enrichment for livestock can be cost effective and used successfully on farm. The benefits generally outweigh any costs of providing enrichment and it should be taken into account when providing housing facilities for farm animals. It also reduces abnormal behaviours commonly seen in production animals, thus decreasing issues associated with poor animal health. The aim of this review is to summarise information and research that highlights the importance of understanding farm animal behaviour and indicates how enrichment will benefit the welfare and productivity of livestock.

scholarly journals Social Network Analysis in Farm Animals: Sensor-Based Approaches

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 434
Author(s):  
Suresh Neethirajan ◽  
Bas Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Management Processes

Natural social systems within animal groups are an essential aspect of agricultural optimization and livestock management strategy. Assessing elements of animal behaviour under domesticated conditions in comparison to natural behaviours found in wild settings has the potential to address issues of animal welfare effectively, such as focusing on reproduction and production success. This review discusses and evaluates to what extent social network analysis (SNA) can be incorporated with sensor-based data collection methods, and what impact the results may have concerning welfare assessment and future farm management processes. The effectiveness and critical features of automated sensor-based technologies deployed in farms include tools for measuring animal social group interactions and the monitoring and recording of farm animal behaviour using SNA. Comparative analyses between the quality of sensor-collected data and traditional observational methods provide an enhanced understanding of the behavioural dynamics of farm animals. The effectiveness of sensor-based approaches in data collection for farm animal behaviour measurement offers unique opportunities for social network research. Sensor-enabled data in livestock SNA addresses the biological aspects of animal behaviour via remote real-time data collection, and the results both directly and indirectly influence welfare assessments, and farm management processes. Finally, we conclude with potential implications of SNA on modern animal farming for improvement of animal welfare.

scholarly journals Farm Animals Are Long Away from Natural Behavior: Open Questions and Operative Consequences on Animal Welfare

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 724
Author(s):  
Alberto Cesarani ◽  
Giuseppe Pulina
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Natural State ◽  
Natural Behavior ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Naive Approach

The concept of welfare applied to farm animals has undergone a remarkable evolution. The growing awareness of citizens pushes farmers to guarantee the highest possible level of welfare to their animals. New perspectives could be opened for animal welfare reasoning around the concept of domestic, especially farm, animals as partial human artifacts. Therefore, it is important to understand how much a particular behavior of a farm animal is far from the natural one of its ancestors. This paper is a contribution to better understand the role of genetics of the farm animals on their behavior. This means that the naïve approach to animal welfare regarding returning animals to their natural state should be challenged and that welfare assessment should be considered.

scholarly journals Costs and Benefits of Improving Farm Animal Welfare

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Jill N. Fernandes ◽  
Paul H. Hemsworth ◽  
Grahame J. Coleman ◽  
Alan J. Tilbrook
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Farm Animal Welfare ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Course Of Action

It costs money to improve the welfare of farm animals. For people with animals under their care, there are many factors to consider regarding changes in practice to improve welfare, and the optimal course of action is not always obvious. Decision support systems for animal welfare, such as economic cost–benefit analyses, are lacking. This review attempts to provide clarity around the costs and benefits of improving farm animal welfare, thereby enabling the people with animals under their care to make informed decisions. Many of the costs are obvious. For example, training of stockpeople, reconfiguration of pens, and administration of pain relief can improve welfare, and all incur costs. Other costs are less obvious. For instance, there may be substantial risks to market protection, consumer acceptance, and social licence to farm associated with not ensuring good animal welfare. The benefits of improving farm animal welfare are also difficult to evaluate from a purely economic perspective. Although it is widely recognised that animals with poor welfare are unlikely to produce at optimal levels, there may be benefits of improving animal welfare that extend beyond production gains. These include benefits to the animal, positive effects on the workforce, competitive advantage for businesses, mitigation of risk, and positive social consequences. We summarise these considerations into a decision tool that can assist people with farm animals under their care, and we highlight the need for further empirical evidence to improve decision-making in animal welfare.

Environmental choices of farm animals

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
C J. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Farm Animal Welfare ◽  
Know How ◽  
Single Dimension ◽  
Underlying Basis ◽  
Preference Strength

AbstractTo assess farm animal welfare we need to understand how animals make choices and how these choices relate to preference strength. Studies of environmental choice can be categorized by the method used to investigate them, or by the underlying basis on which the animal is choosing. Choices made between resources that vary along a single dimension should meet certain criteria e.g. those of transitivity. Choices made between resources that vary along more than one dimension may or may not meet these criteria, depending how the animal evaluates each option. Understanding how farm animals choose will allow the results of individual experiments to be applied in a wider context. It is also important to know how preferences are formed during development. Evidence suggests that preferences for nests and pecking substrates in hens may be influenced by prefunctional experience. Experimental data from studies of environmental choice may enable us either to provide important resources in commercial systems, or to provide facilities for animals to continue to make their own decisions.

scholarly journals Citizens’ and Farmers’ Framing of ‘Positive Animal Welfare’ and the Implications for Framing Positive Welfare in Communication

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Vigors
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Existing Frames ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Positive Animal

Human perception can depend on how an individual frames information in thought and how information is framed in communication. For example, framing something positively, instead of negatively, can change an individual’s response. This is of relevance to ‘positive animal welfare’, which places greater emphasis on farm animals being provided with opportunities for positive experiences. However, little is known about how this framing of animal welfare may influence the perception of key animal welfare stakeholders. Through a qualitative interview study with farmers and citizens, undertaken in Scotland, UK, this paper explores what positive animal welfare evokes to these key welfare stakeholders and highlights the implications of such internal frames for effectively communicating positive welfare in society. Results indicate that citizens make sense of positive welfare by contrasting positive and negative aspects of welfare, and thus frame it as animals having ‘positive experiences’ or being ‘free from negative experiences’. Farmers draw from their existing frames of animal welfare to frame positive welfare as ‘good husbandry’, ‘proactive welfare improvement’ or the ‘animal’s point of view’. Implications of such internal frames (e.g., the triggering of ‘negative welfare’ associations by the word ‘positive’) for the effective communication of positive welfare are also presented.

scholarly journals Reducing the Consumer Attitude–Behaviour Gap in Animal Welfare: The Potential Role of ‘Nudges’

Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Vigors
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Farm Animal ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Consumer Attitude ◽  
Choice Architecture ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Farm Animal Welfare

Citizen concern for the welfare of farm animals is well documented. However, there is a notable gap between people saying they want improved farm animal welfare and how they actually behave as a consumer. This is known as the citizen–consumer attitude–behaviour gap. As improvements in farm animal welfare can be affected by market demand, the choices consumers make become important. This paper introduces the concept of ‘nudging’ and discusses how it could be applied to reduce the attitude–behaviour gap amongst consumers. By designing the choice environment to better reflect the behavioural biases known to impact human decision-making, ‘nudge’ tools function to prompt individuals to make choices that are aligned with their stated intentions. Four ‘nudge’ tools: self-nudges, choice architecture, social norms and pre-commitments are discussed. The behavioural rationales for their use are reviewed and examples of how they might be applied to animal welfare provided. Improved farm animal welfare arguably requires improved pro-welfare consumer behaviour. This paper highlights how this might be encouraged by: self-nudging the salience of an ethical self-image; altering the choice architecture to influence decision-making; articulating social norms to impact behaviour; and using pre-commitment devices to overcome self-control issues.

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