- A benchmark survey to establish the proportion of farms and the proportion of sows that use close confinement systems and the average duration of the confinement period in each reproductive cycle
- Identifying strategies to facilitate transfer and uptake of knowledge on velveting best practice
- Additional indices of distress in lambs and calves
- Ante-mortem assessment of bobby calf welfare
- Practical guidelines for inspecting the effectiveness of stunning and slaughter in redmeat slaughterhouses
- Evaluation of the most effective use of local anaesthetic for the provision of analgesia to the velvet antler of stags
10. Animal Welfare
Research proposals on animal welfare were assessed under a number of categories, indicated by their identifier letters. These have been separated out in this document for ease of access.
| Programme Goal: | To establish the proportion of farms and the proportion of sows that use close confinement systems and the average duration of the confinement period in each reproductive cycle. |
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Benchmark of sow confinement |
| Research Leader: | Dr Neville Gregory |
Description:
A face-to-face survey will be undertaken with pig farmers who have farms with 50 or more sows. The expected outcome will be the proportion of farms and the proportion of sows that use close confinement systems and the average duration of the confinement period in each reproductive cycle.
Objective 2
| Objective Title: | Description of sow systems |
| Research Leader: | Dr Neville Gregory |
Description
Using the survey from Objective 1 the expected outcome will describe the range of systems in which sows are kept in New Zealand and their proportions, and will also describe other selected welfare information (such as housing design, floor materials, feeding frequency).
| Programme Goal: | To develop strategies which ensure effective transfer of recent research information and practical farmer and veterinary experience on best velveting practice to farmers, so that compliance with the AWAC Code of Practice for deer velvet removal can be improved. |
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Strategies to transfer velveting knowledge |
| Research Leader: | Dr Lindsay Matthews |
Description:
Identify strategies, in conjunction with the New Zealand Game Industry Board (NZGIB), to ensure effective transfer of knowledge on velveting best practices to farmers by;
- collating information on best velveting practice derived from research, and farmer and cervine veterinary experience
- collating information on levels of farmer compliance with the requirements of the AWAC code of practice on velvet removal
- identifying information that needs to be transferred
- facilitating meetings with the key influencers and stakeholders in the technology transfer process (e.g. NZVA Deer Branch, NZDFA, NZGIB, NVSB) and thereby develop effective knowledge transfer strategies using the information collated (see bullets above)
- pass the information on best velveting practice and best transfer strategies to the NZGIB (and other relevant authorities) so that it can apply these findings directly to the industry participants, thereby improving compliance with the AWAC code
Submit a report on the results to MAF
| Programme Title: | Additional indices of distress in lambs and calves |
| Programme Leader: | Professor David Mellor |
| Institution: | Massey University |
| Programme Goal: | Completion of the programme commenced during 1997/98 which aims to improve assessments of acute distress caused by noxious husbandry procedures by measuring indices of rapid-onset 'fight or flight' responses (catecholamines, heart rate) in addition to the slower-onset cortisol responses |
.
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Increasing indices of distress in lambs |
| Research Leader: | Professor David Mellor |
Description:
The acute responses to noxious experiences, whether or not they involve pain, have two well-recognised components: a rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response mediated by the sympathetic-adrenomedullary system, and a slower-onset cortisol response, mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system, which creates favourable conditions for wound healing and effects extensive metabolic adjustments. Both are relevant to assessments of husbandry procedures, but cost and/or ease of measurement led to the cortisol response being emphasised to date.
The researchers will address the following questions:
General questions:
- To what extent do noxious husbandry procedures activate the rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response mediated by the sympathetic-adrenomedullary system?
- How do the features of the rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response and the slower-onset cortisol response (mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system) compare?
Specific questions:
- What are the features of the 'fight or flight' response in lambs experiencing ischaemic pain caused by castration plus tailing with tight rubber rings?
- How do those features compare with the cortisol response of lambs to rubber rings castration plus tailing?
Objective 2
| Objective Title: | Increasing indices of distress in calves |
| Research Leader: | Professor David Mellor |
Description
The acute responses to noxious experiences, whether or not they involve pain, have two well-recognised components: a rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response mediated by the sympathetic-adrenomedullary system, and a slower-onset cortisol response, mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system, which creates favourable conditions for wound healing and effects extensive metabolic adjustments. Both are relevant to assessments of husbandry procedures, but cost and/or ease of measurement led to the cortisol response being emphasised to date.
The researchers will address the following questions:
General questions:
- To what extent do noxious husbandry procedures activate the rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response mediated by the sympathetic-adrenomedullary system?
- How do the features of the rapid-onset 'fight or flight' response and the slower-onset cortisol response (mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system) compare?
Specific questions:
- What are the features of the 'fight or flight' response in calves experiencing amputation pain caused by scoop dehorning with or without prior injection of local anaesthetic?
- How do those features compare with the cortisol response of calves to scoop dehorning with or without local anaesthetic?
- What characteristic behaviours occur in calves not handled after scoop dehorning, and how are they associated with the catecholamine and cortisol responses?
| Programme Title: | Ante-mortem assessment of bobby calf welfare |
| Programme Leader: | Professor David Mellor |
| Institution: | Massey University |
| Programme Goal: | To describe the physical, clinical and pathophysical features of Bobby calves upon arrival at meatworks, to identify the defining characteristics of ‘acceptable’, ‘marginal’ and ‘unacceptable’ states, and to assess the circumstances responsible for their arrival in ‘marginal’ and ‘unacceptable’ states. |
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Ante-mortem assessment of bobby calf welfare |
| Research Leader: | Professor David Mellor |
Description:
Questions to be addressed include the following;
| (1) | What specific physical, clinical and/or pathophysiological features may be used to identify bobby calves arriving at a meatworks in an ‘acceptable’, a ‘marginal’ or an ‘unacceptable’ state, and with what precision can those states be identified? |
| (2) | What factors predispose calves to arriving in ‘marginal’ or ‘unacceptable’ states? |
| (3) | To what extent does the condition of bobby calves in those states improve, remain unchanged or deteriorate in the lairage between unloading and slaughter? |
The features of calves to be considered include the following: breed, sex, maturity, age, health, vigour, injury, hydration state, thermal status, general metabolic status, and signs of transport-induced anaerobic metabolism. Where possible these will be related to conditions during transport, including weather conditions, transport duration, general terrain of journey, and driver skill and approach.
| Programme Title: | Practical guidelines for inspecting the effectiveness of stunning and slaughter in redmeat slaughterhouses |
| Programme Leader: | Professor Neville Gregory |
| Institution: | Massey University |
| Programme Goal: | Completion of the programme commenced during 1997/98 which aims to prepare a set of practical guidelines for MAF veterinarians working in redmeat plants on how to assess the effectiveness of stunning and slaughter from the welfare perspective. |
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Prepare guidelines |
| Research Leader: | Professor Neville Gregory |
Description:
A set of inspector-friendly guidelines will be prepared which provides a systematic approach to the inspection of:
- stunning and slaughter equipment;
- animals immediately after stunning;
- animals during bleeding; and
- the sticking wound.
A description will be included of some of the ways in which stunning and slaughter can go wrong and what to look for in particular situations. The guidelines will be evaluated with selected MAF veterinarians.
| Programme Title: | Evaluation of the most effective use of local anaesthetic for the provision of analgesia to the velvet antler of stags |
| Programme Leader: | Associate Professor Peter Wilson |
| Institution: | Massey University |
| Programme Goal: | To evaluate techniques, dosages, time factors and drug types for local anaesthesia of the velvet antler of stags. |
| Collaboration: | AgResearch, Ruakura participated in a similar project during 1997/98 |
Objective 1
| Objective Title: | Sites, doses and timing of anaesthetic. |
| Research Leader: | Associate Professor Peter Wilson |
Description:
Appropriate method(s) for evaluating responses to pain will be developed and validated. The normal range of responses of deer to stimulated procedures will be established to provide background or control data for comparison with the experimental procedures.
Different dose rates of local anaesthetic by ring block or individual nerve blocks evaluated at 2 sites of injection for each nerve with or without caudal pedicle injection will be administered and responses to stimuli will be recorded at appropriate intervals after application. The contralateral antler will serve as the animal’s own control. The process will be repeated on the opposite antler of each deer at a later date. This procedure will then be repeated using alternative forms of local anaesthetic as appropriate.
As data accumulates, the "best" combination will be used to anaesthetise the pedicle for antler removal on the remaining deer.
Approx 30-40 stags will be used for this study with treatments randomised and multiple tests conducted on each stag with a minimum of 7 days between observations, to ensure the necessary replicates for each study variable.
Contact for Enquiries
Farm Monitoring Programme Manager
Monitoring and Evaluation
MAF Policy
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0623
Fax: +64 4 894 0741
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