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A veterinarian's approach to welfare with special reference to poultry
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A VETERINARIAN’S APPROACH REFERENCE TO POULTRY
TO WELFARE
WITH SPECIAL
0. SWARBRICK Denhams Lane, Arundel, Sussex (Gt. Britain) ABSTRACT The author considers that the welfare of farm livestock in Great Britain is better than anywhere else, and he feels that discussions should thus concentrate on those countries and religions where abuse of animals is common. Also, in taking account of animal welfare, human welfare and requirements should not be forgotten. It should also be remembered that welfare problems are not restricted to modern intensive systems, but are encountered in all domestic species kept under all systems. Serious welfare problems can arise because of financial crises; if the owner of animals loses his cash reserves, he may be unable to feed and maintain his animals correctly. Van Putten (1981) lists 11 ways of assessing animal welfare, which can be divided into objective and subjective classes. Examples of objective methods are: measuring production data; morbidity; mortality; and Ekesbo’s method. An example of a subjective method is the observation of behaviour by a competent stockman. The author considers that some of the symptoms listed by van Putten as indicating re’duced welfare, such as apathy and failure to respond to stimuli, are also very subjective. However, the apparent failure of an animal to respond to stimuli depends upon inherent factors within the animal and on environmental factors. Selective breeding has developed strains of animals which may be able to adapt to modern intensive husbandry systems. There are problems in assessing the welfare of individuals when group size is large, say 40-50 animals. In larger groups, it is only possible to make some assessment of the group as a whole. Welfare is also difficult to assess under free-range conditions, such as mountain and moorland, where great distances and the inaccessible terrain make individual inspection difficult, if not impossible. Under these conditions, such things as injury, exposure, malnutrition and parasitism are likely to reduce welfare. With regard to poultry, the most serious welfare problems arise in the catching and transport of birds. This is rough, tough and dirty work, and whilst the workers employed in it may not be intentionally cruel or callous, they do tend to become mesmerized by the large numbers and repetitive nature of the task. More research and resources are required in training people for this work. There is a small and decreasing number of people who do not care about the animals in their charge; this is a real welfare problem. Many will go bankrupt, since their livestock fail to flourish, but they should be prosecuted if satisfactory evidence can be obtained.
REFERENCE Van Putten, G., 1981. Parameters for farm animal well-being, emphasizing the role of conflict and vacuum behaviour. Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
A VETERINARIAN’S APPROACH REFERENCE TO POULTRY
TO WELFARE
WITH SPECIAL
0. SWARBRICK Denhams Lane, Arundel, Sussex (Gt. Britain) ABSTRACT The author considers that the welfare of farm livestock in Great Britain is better than anywhere else, and he feels that discussions should thus concentrate on those countries and religions where abuse of animals is common. Also, in taking account of animal welfare, human welfare and requirements should not be forgotten. It should also be remembered that welfare problems are not restricted to modern intensive systems, but are encountered in all domestic species kept under all systems. Serious welfare problems can arise because of financial crises; if the owner of animals loses his cash reserves, he may be unable to feed and maintain his animals correctly. Van Putten (1981) lists 11 ways of assessing animal welfare, which can be divided into objective and subjective classes. Examples of objective methods are: measuring production data; morbidity; mortality; and Ekesbo’s method. An example of a subjective method is the observation of behaviour by a competent stockman. The author considers that some of the symptoms listed by van Putten as indicating re’duced welfare, such as apathy and failure to respond to stimuli, are also very subjective. However, the apparent failure of an animal to respond to stimuli depends upon inherent factors within the animal and on environmental factors. Selective breeding has developed strains of animals which may be able to adapt to modern intensive husbandry systems. There are problems in assessing the welfare of individuals when group size is large, say 40-50 animals. In larger groups, it is only possible to make some assessment of the group as a whole. Welfare is also difficult to assess under free-range conditions, such as mountain and moorland, where great distances and the inaccessible terrain make individual inspection difficult, if not impossible. Under these conditions, such things as injury, exposure, malnutrition and parasitism are likely to reduce welfare. With regard to poultry, the most serious welfare problems arise in the catching and transport of birds. This is rough, tough and dirty work, and whilst the workers employed in it may not be intentionally cruel or callous, they do tend to become mesmerized by the large numbers and repetitive nature of the task. More research and resources are required in training people for this work. There is a small and decreasing number of people who do not care about the animals in their charge; this is a real welfare problem. Many will go bankrupt, since their livestock fail to flourish, but they should be prosecuted if satisfactory evidence can be obtained.
REFERENCE Van Putten, G., 1981. Parameters for farm animal well-being, emphasizing the role of conflict and vacuum behaviour. Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, Zagreb, Yugoslavia.