- 8.1 FMA 182: Welfare and mortality of newborn calves in the dairy industry
- 8.2 FMA 183: Chronic pain in ruminants after painful husbandry practices
- 8.3 FMA 184: Monitoring welfare of stock presented for slaughter
- 8.4 FMA 185: Shade: Its use by livestock and effectiveness in alleviating heat challenge
- 8.5 FMA 186: Performance testing of farm animals
- 8.6 FMA 187: Environmental conditions and long distance/inter-island transport
8. Animal Welfare
Research proposals on animal welfare were assessed under two categories, indicated by their identifier letters. These have been separated out in this document for ease of access.
8.1 FMA 182
| Programme Title: | Welfare and mortality of newborn calves in the dairy industry |
| Programme Leader: | Professor David J Mellor |
| Institution: | Massey |
Programme Goal: Using clinical, physical, physiological and pathophysiological indices, proven in ewes and lambs, to assess the causes and animal welfare consequences of factors that predispose newborn dairy calves to death or debility up to 4 days of age.
Objective 1
Objective Title: Welfare, debility and death in newborn dairy calves.
Research Leader: Professor DJ Mellor.
Description:
The welfare status of newborn calves in the dairy industry is likely to attract increasing public attention. It would be easy for inflammatory assertions about their status to damage New Zealand's image in welfare-sensitive markets. It has been shown that from 4 days of age the welfare of Bobby calves remains acceptable provided the Code of Recommendations and Minimum Standards for the Welfare for Bobby Calves is followed (Todd et al., 2000a, b; Stafford et al., 2000, 2001). There are also validated criteria for assessing the status of calves upon arrival at a meatworks (Stafford et al 2001). These criteria can now be used to improve the detection of calves not treated according to the Code and can thereby facilitate the necessary remedial action. Notwithstanding these positive advances, critics of the Bobby calf trade can still claim that the situation for all calves prior to pick-up at 4 days of age is still not known, because it is only those calves that meet certain `fitness' criteria defined in the Code that are allowed to be transported. Thus, there could be a significant unobserved or hidden proportion of calves where welfare compromise is substantial and calf losses great. At present no convincing argument could be mounted to counter such claims because our knowledge of the nature and causes of welfare compromise, debility and mortality of calves during the period between birth and 4 days of age is very limited.
The knowledge generated would identify, in a completely new way, what prenatal and postnatal factors contribute to welfare compromise and mortality of calves, and what practical and economic measures can be taken to successfully deal with these problems between birth and 4 days of age. It would therefore provide a foundation for ensuring that the welfare of Bobby calves is maintained at good levels prior to pick-up for transport to meatworks.
During spring calving, it is intended to identify the attributes of healthy and spontaneously compromised calves born to two classes of cow - heifers and mixed age. It is also intended to study calves from mixed age cows calving in autumn, and compare their attributes with those of similar spring calves. They will be observed from birth to at least 4 days of age, taking into consideration breed, the type of hand rearing system and whether the calves are fed colostrum/milk, milk replacer or a mixture.
8.2 FMA 183
| Programme Title: | Chronic pain in ruminants after painful husbandry practices. |
| Programme Leader: | David Mellor |
| Institution: | Massey |
Programme Goal: Using novel equipment to assess the value of feeding and ruminating behaviour as indices of chronic pain in heifers after dehorning.
Objective 1
Objective Title: Detection of chronic pain in ruminants.
Research Leader: Associate Professor Kevin J Stafford.
Description:
A series of contracts have already been completed investigating the acute and more recently the chronic pain in ruminants after husbandry procedures. As a result, our knowledge of the acute physiological and behavioural responses of livestock to painful husbandry practices has advanced greatly during the past decade, and this has led to improved animal welfare advice and minimum standards to reduce the noxious effects of such practices. Nevertheless, we still have a poor understanding of the duration and intensity of any chronic pain or distress that may be caused. The sensitivity of physiological parameters as indices of chronic pain or distress is still being evaluated in current projects - the results from a study carried out in 2000 which looked at the responses of calves to painful stimuli (electrical, pressure) following castration or dehorning are currently being analysed. Observation of additional behaviours will be informative: 24-hour time budgets for feeding and ruminating are likely to be the most sensitive behavioural indices of chronic pain or distress. New equipment is now available which allows feeding and ruminating behaviour to be quantified continuously in individual animals. This offers the opportunity to provide a behavioural dimension to the assessment of chronic pain or distress caused by painful husbandry practices in ruminants. It will also provide a sensitive means for assessing the efficacy of alleviation strategies and would enhance the foundations of practical advice designed to minimise such chronic pain or distress.
The pilot study described here is designed to determine whether the proposed methodology is effective in describing differences between control and treated groups. It will answer the question of whether the feeding and ruminating behaviour of calves is changed by the experience of amputation dehorning in the days following the procedure.
There will be three treatments:
- control handling (simulated dehorning);
- dehorning by amputation without pain relief;
- dehorning by amputation following local anaesthesia (lignocaine) plus systemic analgesia (ketoprofen), with the analgesic also injected daily for the first 4 days after dehorning.
If there are significant differences between the feeding and ruminating behaviour of the three groups future research would investigate the full duration of these differences (>4 days), would evaluate whether they reflect different experiences of chronic pain and would seek to develop effective techniques for reducing that after dehorning.
8.3 FMA 184
| Programme Title: | Monitoring welfare of stock presented for slaughter |
| Programme Leader: | Jo Pollard |
| Institution: | AgResearch |
Programme Goal: To develop a system of monitoring variables related to the welfare of stock arriving at slaughter plants, for use by MAF and NAWAC in revising standards and recommendations in the relevant codes of welfare.
Rationale: New Zealand increasingly needs to demonstrate integrity in production systems that claim to ensure good standards of welfare. Some variables that reflect on-farm practices and welfare standards may be monitored effectively in stock presented for slaughter at processing plants. This project will provide a system for monitoring such variables. This will not only be useful to MAF and NAWAC in revising standards and recommendations for stock husbandry, but could also be adopted by processing plants wanting to ensure and demonstrate that the stock they purchase has been produced in an humane manner. The information collected will be additional to welfare-related information already collected by slaughter plants (such as emaciated animals, severe bruising, and arthritis).
Objective 1
Objective Title: Welfare assessment at slaughter yards.
Research Leader: J.C. Pollard.
Description:
The aim is to develop a system of monitoring some variables that reflect on-farm welfare standards, and practices that impinge on welfare, in stock awaiting slaughter at processing plants. The outcome will be a means of providing information on farm husbandry techniques and possible welfare problems to MAF and NAWAC, and for possible incorporation into quality assurance programmes at processing plants.
8.4 FMA 185
| Programme Title: | Shade: Its use by livestock and effectiveness in alleviating heat challenge |
| Programme Leader: | Andrew Fisher |
| Institution: | AgResearch |
Programme Goal: To determine the behavioural use of shade by New Zealand livestock in hot weather, the extent to which this reduces their body temperature, and its effects on their productivity, in order to provide information for relevant codes of welfare.
Rationale: Although New Zealand is considered to have a temperate climate, summer combinations of temperature and humidity can result in conditions that present considerable challenge to farmed livestock. The summer of 2000/2001 has been very warm, and recent publicity about the heat-induced death of cattle in Northland (Middlebrook, 2001) has heightened public awareness of the issue, including a call from the RNZSPCA for all livestock to have access to shade (Blomkamp, 2001). Research we have conducted in collaboration with endophyte scientists at Dexcel has shown that unshaded cattle in the Waikato during summer may experience stress due to heat, with elevations in body temperature above normal limits (Bluett, Fisher and Waugh, 2000). Although studies have been conducted overseas examining the use of shade for farmed livestock, many of these have been conducted in environments with higher temperatures and lower humidities than New Zealand, and it is not possible to draw unequivocal and widely-applicable conclusions from the literature (see review by Hemsworth et al., 1995).
There has not been research published in New Zealand examining the benefits of shade in reducing animal body temperature during conditions of heat challenge for livestock. Shade is clearly seen as important by the public, but if there is to be optimal uptake of shade as a management strategy by farmers, then research will need to address issues of animal productivity, pasture quality, and environmental effects, as well as animal welfare.
Objective 1
Objective Title: Shade benefits for livestock.
Research Leader: Andrew Fisher.
Description:
This proposal aims to provide information for farm management and for the revision of welfare codes by quantifying
- the behavioural use of shade by the animals in hot weather;
- the extent to which this use of shade reduces their body temperature;
- the effects on their productivity.
Ultimately, we would work with both cattle and sheep, and examine our results, in conjunction with data from Dr MacKay's project, to determine if a model of shade use can be developed for New Zealand livestock. This would be used, in combination with the analysis of climatic data, to construct a map indicating areas of New Zealand where shade for livestock is likely to be of maximum benefit or necessity.
8.5 FMA 186
| Programme Title: | Performance testing of farm animals |
| Programme Leader: | Mark Fisher |
| Institution: | AgResearch |
Programme Goal: Understand the features of, and justification for, a number of tests for performance and their implications for the welfare of farm animals.
Rationale: A number of farm animals can be tested for their predisposition or susceptibility towards certain traits or characteristics. This enables breeders to retain and use animals of "superior" genetic or phenotypic merit. Such tests can have significant welfare costs to individual animals and resultant selection programmes may also have unintended consequences. It is important to consider the merit of these types of tests using accepted principles of animal welfare. For example does the test represent a harm which should not be imposed whatever the benefits, is it justifiable in terms of the benefits gained outweighing the harms imposed, and are there are any alternatives and/or ways of minimising any harms? Given that some tests can be rigorous, it is also important to consider whether popular usage lacking such rigour is justified.
The information will be useful in the development of animal welfare policy to prevent and/or minimise any harmful aspects of performance tests in farm animal species.
Objective 1
Objective Title: Literature review.
Research Leader: Mark Fisher.
Description:
This component will describe a range of performance tests in farm animals, the philosophy underpinning them, the methods used, and the welfare implications.
Objective 2
Objective Title: Power-based estimation of effectiveness.
Research Leader: Peter Johnstone.
Description:
Using the Blockey Test as an example, this component will describe how the rigour of the test depends on its design and the expected variation in results.
8.6 FMA 187
| Programme Title: | Environmental conditions and long distance/inter-island transport |
| Programme Leader: | Lindsay Mathews |
| Institution: | AgResearch |
Programme Goal: To reduce the risk to animal welfare during long distance transport by identifying hazardous ambient environmental conditions.
Rationale: Transport of livestock, in general, and on long-haul inter-island journeys, in particular (Fisher et al., 1999), exposes animals to challenging conditions that can result in severe welfare compromise and concern. We have obtained scientific evidence, from a limited range of conditions, that specific practices on long-haul, inter-island transport modify the environmental conditions within stock crates in such a way as to increase markedly the risk to animal welfare (Matthews et al., 2000; Fisher et al., 2001). The Temperature-Humidity Index (THI) is a good measure of thermal stress, and we have found that during stationary phases, such as when the vehicle is waiting to board or is on the ferry, the THI values on occasions reach unacceptably high levels in some pens. Sheep and lambs appear to be particularly at risk from the environmental conditions during stationary phases of journeys.
As yet, we do not have sufficient information to identify precisely the ambient conditions that lead to high risk, or conversely, those that pose little risk. Thus, the aim of this study is to develop a dataset for measures of THI in response to ambient conditions across the day and night. This information will be critical in gaining acceptance of the validity of the measures by the Transport Industry, and in allowing predictions of environmental conditions that will lead to thermal stress, or allow the avoidance of thermal stress. This information will assist in the provision of guidelines for remedial actions when adverse environmental conditions are predicted.
An additional goal is to facilitate the adoption of improved transport practices through providing information to relevant industry for a and policy/regulatory agencies.
Objective 1
Objective Title: Environmental conditions leading to adverse thermal stress on transporters
Research Leader: Dr Andrew Fisher
Description:
Identify ambient conditions and journey features that lead to unacceptably high THI values in livestock transport vehicles by:
- Monitoring the effects of a range of ambient environmental conditions on THI values in fully loaded commercial livestock transport vehicles, during moving and stationary phases of long-haul/inter-island transport.
- Beginning to develop a model for predicting which ambient environmental conditions are likely to lead to adverse thermal stress on transport vehicles.
- Making the information available in a format suitable for the revision of standards and recommendations in relevant codes of welfare.
- Reporting the information on adverse environmental conditions to MAF in a report by 30 June 2002.
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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