Assessing welfare of organic laying hens in Finland with resource-related and animal-related methods

The objective of this study was to assess the welfare of organic layer flocks in Finland and to compare resource-related methods with animal-related methods

Organic egg production in Finland - animal health, welfare and food safety issues

A total of 20 out of 23 commercial organic layer farms took part in the research. Data were collected through observation and by interviewing the producer, using a semi-structured interview guide. Laying hen welfare was estimated using environment-based and animal-based methods. Fresh faecal samples were collected from the floor for analysis of campylobacter and salmonella bacteria and for internal parasite identification

Prevalence of tail biting in pigs and associations to carcass condemnations - a Finnish pilot study

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tail biting in Finland and the relationship between tail biting and carcass condemnation

Organic egg production in Finland: management of animal welfare and food safety

A total of 20 out of 23 commercial organic layer farms (in excess of 80 % of all commercial Finnish organic farms year 2003) took part in the ongoing research, which identifies risk factors and potential solutions for laying hen welfare and food safety. Data was collected during two farm visits by interviewing the producer, using a semi-structured interview guide, making environment and animal-based observations and collecting samples

Farmer's attitudes affect piglet production parameters

Our results show that farmers' attitudes count: treating the animals humanely, investing in a favourable environment, and having a positive attitude towards new information and scientific research is associated with an above-average productivity on piglet farms. These attitudes, when implemented and concretized in practice, also benefit the animals through a higher standard of welfare

Identifying physiological measures of lifetime welfare status in pigs: exploring the usefulness of haptoglobin, C-reactive protein and hair cortisol sampled at the time of slaughter

Background: Physiological measures indicative of the welfare status of animals during rearing could form part of an abattoir-based animal health and welfare assessment tool. A total of 66 pigs were used in this study, the aim of which was to assess how serum concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (assessed in 51 pigs), and hair concentrations of cortisol (assessed in 65 pigs), measured at or close to slaughter, reflected welfare-related indicators recorded from the animal during its lifetime. These indicators were recorded at intervals between 7 and 21 weeks of age and included assigning scores for levels of tail and skin lesions, recording the presence or absence of certain health issues, and conducting qualitative behavioural assessments (QBA). Results: Pigs recorded as having tail lesions during their lifetime had higher hair cortisol levels than those with no tail lesions (tail lesions: 47.87 ± 3.34 pg/mg, no tail lesions: 42.20 ± 3.29 pg/mg, P = 0.023), and pigs recorded as having moderate or severe tail lesions had higher Hp levels than those with no or mild tail lesions (moderate/severe: 1.711 mg/ml ± 0.74, none/mild: 0.731 mg/ml ±0.10, P = 0.010). Pigs recorded as being lame during their lifetime tended to have higher hair cortisol levels than non-lame pigs (lame: 52.72 pg/mg ± 3.83, not lame: 43.07 pg/mg ± 2.69, P = 0.062). QBA scores were not associated with any of the physiological measures (P > 0.05). Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) analysis was also carried out to get a better understanding of the usefulness of the physiological measures in discriminating animals that had had welfare-related issues recorded during their lifetime from those that had not. Hair cortisol was determined as having ‘moderate’ accuracy in discriminating pigs that were tail bitten on-farm from unbitten pigs (AUC: 0.748) while Hp and CRP were determined to have no meaningful discriminatory ability (AUC < 0.600). Conclusion: This research should be repeated on a larger scale, but the results suggest that hair cortisol measured at slaughter could provide insight into the welfare status of pigs during their lifetime. Hp may be a useful indicator of tail lesions in pigs. However, further research utilising a greater proportion of severely bitten pigs is required before conclusions can be drawn

Dairy producer attitudes to pain in cattle in relation to disbudding calves

Pain is an important indicator of poor welfare of livestock. Despite this, pain has largely gone unrecognized in farm animals due to attitudes of producers and veterinarians, although they play a key role in monitoring and managing the perception of animal pain. Producer attitudes toward animal welfare influence livestock management and production. The aim was to quantify dairy producer attitudes to the painfulness of various cattle diseases and disbudding, a painful routine procedure performed on farm to ensure safer handling of cattle. A questionnaire on disbudding-related opinions and practices was sent to 1,000 Finnish dairy producers (response rate: 45%). Attitudes toward disbudding were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale and attitudes to cattle pain scored on an 11-point numerical rating scale. Principal components analysis was used to assess the loadings, which were further tested for differences between producer gender and housing systems with Mann-Whitney U-tests, and between herd milk yield, herd size, and age and work experience of producers with a Kruskal-Wallis test. Four main factors were identified: factor I (“taking disbudding pain seriously”), factor II (“sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases”), factor III (“ready to medicate calves myself”), and factor IV (“pro horns”). Female producers took disbudding pain more seriously, were more sensitive to pain caused to cattle by diseases, and were more ready to medicate disbudded calves than male producers. Producers with tie-stalls favored horns over producers with freestalls. Male producers with tie-stalls were sensitive to cattle pain and preferred horns over male producers with freestalls. Female producers with freestalls were more ready to medicate calves, but did not prefer horns more than female producers with tie-stalls. Taking disbudding seriously correlated with sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases. Producers with low-milk-yielding herds were less willing to medicate calves and more willing to keep cattle with horns than producers with higher-yielding herds. Older producers were more sensitive to cattle pain than middle-aged and younger producers. No effect was established for taking disbudding pain seriously: the pro-horn factor was associated with work experience, age, and herd size. Women rated pain higher and were more positive toward pain medication for animals than men. Maintaining horns are more important for producers with tie-stalls than for those with freestalls.Peer reviewe

The use of social network analysis to describe the effect of immune activation on group dynamics in pigs

The immune system can influence social motivation with potentially dire consequences for group-housed production animals, such as pigs. The aim of this study was to test the effect of a controlled immune activation in group-housed pigs, through an injection with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and an intervention with ketoprofen on centrality parameters at the individual level. In addition, we wanted to test the effect of time relative to the injection on general network parameters in order to get a better understanding of changes in social network structures at the group level. 52 female pigs (11-12 weeks) were allocated to four treatments, comprising two injections: ketoprofen-LPS (KL), ketoprofen-saline (KS), saline-LPS (SL) and saline-saline (SS). Social behaviour with a focus on damaging behaviour was observed continuously in 10 x 15 min bouts between 0800 am and 1700 pm 1 day before (baseline) and two subsequent days after injection. Activity was scan-sampled every 5 min for 6 h after the last injection in the pen. Saliva samples were taken for cortisol analysis at baseline and at 4, 24, 48, 72 h after the injections. A controlled immune activation affected centrality parameters for ear manipulation networks at the individual level. Lipopolysaccharide-injected pigs had a lower in-degree centrality, thus, received less interactions, 2 days after the challenge. Treatment effects on tail manipulation and fighting networks were not observed at the individual level. For networks of manipulation of other body parts, in-degree centrality was positively correlated with cortisol response at 4 h and lying behaviour in the first 6 h after the challenge in LPS-injected pigs. Thus, the stronger the pigs reacted to the LPS, the more interactions they received in the subsequent days. The time in relation to injection affected general network parameters for ear manipulation and fighting networks at the group level. For ear manipulation networks, in -degree centralisation was higher on the days following injection, thus, certain individuals in the pen received more interactions than the rest of the group compared to baseline. For fighting networks, betweenness decreased on the first day after injection compared to baseline, indicating that network connectivity increased after the challenge. Networks of tail manipulation and manipulation of other body parts did not change on the days after injection at the group level. Social network analysis is a method that can potentially provide important insights into the effects of sickness on social behaviour in group-housed pigs. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Sick and grumpy: changes in social behaviour after a controlled immune stimulation in group-housed gilts

Poor health is associated with an increased risk of tail biting outbreaks in pigs. We propose that this is because illness changes social dynamics either by changing the behaviour of the sick pig towards its penmates, the behaviour of the healthy penmates towards the sick pig, or both. We tested the effect of immune stimulation (lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection: O111:B4; 1.5 mu g kg(-1) IV) on social behaviour in gilts housed in triplets in a cross-over experiment. Each pen was subjected to the control treatment (all three pigs injected with saline) and then LPS treatment (one pig injected with LPS, two injected with saline), or vice versa. LPS injected pigs had a shift in social motivation and performed more tail- and ear- directed behaviour than saline pigs two days after injection. They seemed to fit the description of 'sick and grumpy'. This change was seen about 40 h after the signs of acute illness dissipated and was not accompanied by a similar increase in activity. We discuss possible mechanisms for this behavioural change in light of changes in neurotransmitter levels at three days after LPS injection described in a previous experiment.Peer reviewe

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Seven Measures to Reduce Tail Biting Lesions in Fattening Pigs

Tail biting is an important animal welfare issue in the pig sector. Studies have identified various risk factors which can lead to biting incidents and proposed mitigation measures. This study focused on the following seven key measures which have been identified to affect the risk of tail biting lesions: improvements in straw provision, housing ventilation, genetics, stocking density, herd health, provision of point-source enrichment objects, and adoption of early warning systems. The aim of this study was to examine whether these selected measures to reduce the risk of tail biting lesions in pig fattening are cost-effective. The problem was analyzed by first summarizing the most prospective interventions, their costs and expected impacts on the prevalence of tail biting lesions, second, by using a stochastic bio-economic model to simulate the financial return per pig space unit and per pig at different levels of prevalence of tail biting lesions, and third by looking at how large a reduction in tail biting lesions would be needed at different levels of initial prevalence of lesions to cover the costs of interventions. Tail biting lesions of a severity which would require an action (medication, hospitalization of the pig or other care, or taking preventive measures) by the pig producer were considered in the model. The results provide guidance on the expected benefits and costs of the studied interventions. According to the results, if the average prevalence of tail biting lesions is at a level of 10%, the costs of this damaging behavior can be as high as euro2.3 per slaughtered pig (similar to 1.6% of carcass value). Measures which were considered the least expensive to apply, such as provision of point-source enrichment objects, or provided wider production benefits, such as improvements in ventilation and herd health, became profitable at a lower level of efficacy than measures which were considered the most expensive to apply (e.g., straw provision, increased space allowance, automated early warning systems). Measures which were considered most efficient in reducing the risk of tail biting lesions, such as straw provision, can be cost-effective in preventing tail biting, especially when the risk of tail biting is high. At lower risk levels, the provision of point-source objects and other less costly but relatively effective measures can play an important role. However, selection of measures appropriate to the individual farm problem is essential. For instance, if poor health or barren pens are causing the elevated risk of tail biting lesions, then improving health management or enriching the pens may resolve the tail biting problem cost-effectively.Peer reviewe