Untitled Quiz

Welfare, Ethology, and Animal Protection

• Mahatma Gandhi said, "We recognize the degree of civilization of a people by the way they treat their animals."

Animal Welfare Definition

• The concept of animal welfare denotes the quality of animal life.
• A precise definition of animal welfare is important for scientific, practical, and legal uses.
• The term "welfare" is ambiguous, and opinions on what's fundamental differ among people.

Scientific Agreement on Animal Welfare

• A complex theory, combining initially differing viewpoints, was reached via scientific agreement.
• These theories are "natural life", "biological/functional" orientation, and orientation of "feelings".

Biological/Functional Orientation

• Animal welfare is represented by biological systems functioning normally.
• Authors provide various indicators of welfare, like high production rates, breeding/reproduction, health, adaptation to the environment, and behavioral needs.

Orientation of "Feelings"

• Animal welfare is approached through subjective experiences using their emotions.
• Achieving high welfare involves freedom from any unpleasant mental state and experiencing pleasure, satisfaction, and normal life.

Orientation of "Natural Life"

• Proper animal welfare depends on the ability to express natural behavior and use genetically encoded capabilities.
• The three guidelines regarding animal welfare mentioned cannot be scientifically disproven.
• The guidelines highlight various values intrinsically connected to animal welfare.

Farm Animal Welfare in Scientific Literature

• The Brambell Committee, a group of experts, likely first defined farm animal welfare.
• Increased public concern motivated this definition.
• The intensified farming practices prompted the British government to define farm animal breeding.
• Ruth Harrison's book, "Animal Machines" published in 1964, was a key part of the public concern.

Brambell Report Content

• The report from the Brambell Committee contributed to a better understanding of some aspects of animal welfare.
• It includes the concept of mental and physical welfare for animals, similar to humans, but perhaps less intense.

Multidimensional Concept of Animal Welfare

• Animal welfare involves multiple aspects, including animal sheltering, feeding, watering, health, and behavior.

The Brambell Committee's Five Freedoms

• Welfare encompasses both physical and mental well-being.
• Animals should have the freedom to stand, lie, turn, groom themselves, and stretch.

Additional Definitions of Welfare

• Hughes (1976): Welfare is the complete mental and physical health state where the animal is in harmony with the environment.
• Carpenter (1980): Welfare regarding managed animals is related to how well they can adapt to human-created environments without suffering.
• Broom (1991): Animal welfare is based on the animal´s attempts to cope with its environment and refers to the degree to which they successfully achieve this.

Animal Welfare States

• Animals can effectively cope, with only minor welfare concerns.
• Animals can adapt and survive in challenging situations but with apparent struggle.
• Animals that cannot adapt fail to thrive and potentially die.

Animal Welfare Factors

• An organism's ability to adapt to its environment is a key indicator of welfare.
• Animal welfare is adequate when coping with the environment is achieved easily.
• The animal's ability to experience pleasure positively influences its state.

World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Definition

• The OIE defines animal welfare based on how well an animal copes with its situation. This relies on scientific evidence of health, comfort, nutrition, safety, and expressing natural behavior.

Aspects of Animal Welfare

• Functioning (physical): coping, health, disease prevention, and nutrition
• Mental (feelings): comfort, safety, freedom from unpleasant emotions, humane handling, and slaughter
• Aspects of naturalness: coping and expressing natural behaviors

Areas for Consideration in Animal Welfare

• Basic health (physical health)
• Aspects of naturalness (natural behavior)
• Affective state (feelings)

Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)

• Conceived in 2000, the UDAW outlines five freedoms:
  • Freedom from hunger and thirst
  • Freedom from discomfort
  • Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
  • Freedom to express normal behaviors
  • Freedom from fear and distress

Degree of Welfare

• "Welfare degrees" are the different levels of well-being in animals.
• Measured with indicators like feeding, watering, microclimate, and the interaction between the animal and the surrounding factors.

Key Factors for Adequate Animal Welfare

• Efficient management
• Adequate housing
• Well-maintained equipment
• Healthy human-animal relationship

Examples of Good and Poor Welfare (High and Low Welfare)

• Good and Very Good Welfare: Favored behavior (playing), manifestation of pleasure, good plumage, normal conduct.
• Poor Welfare: Presence of pain, injuries, behavioral issues, lack of apathy and biochemical distress.

Farm-Specific Welfare Indicators

• Reproductive success
• Average productive lifespan
• Morbidity and mortality rates
• Aspects of zoo-veterinary management

Hygiene Scoring for Cows

• A hygiene scoring system is utilized to measure cow cleanliness.
• The areas to check are the lower leg, udder, and upper leg/flank areas.
• The scoring is based on a 1-4 scale, where a "1" is very clean and a "4" is very dirty.

Scoring Guide- Lower Leg

• The scoring system assesses manure build-up on cow legs.
• Maure above the coronary band are used to score leg cleanliness.

Udder Scoring Guide

• The scoring system is used to check for visible manure build-up near the teats.
• The presence of manure near teats may be an indicator of infection.

Upper Leg and Flank Scoring Guide

• The scoring system checks for visible manure build-up on the cow's upper legs and flanks.
• Manure can come from lying on dirty surfaces or a dirty tail.

Evaluation of Animal Hygiene

• Scores of 3 or 4 in any area indicate poor hygiene, and thus the proportion is calculated
• Scores less than 20% mean good body hygiene
• Scores 20-40% reflect average hygiene
• Scores above 40% signal poor hygiene

Applied Scoring of Integument and Health

• Used to assess different housing systems in commercial production.
• Method includes plumage, foot, and skin health.

Integument and Health Scoring System

• The scoring system evaluates 6 body parts related to plumage condition.
• This includes the neck, breast, cloaca (vent), back, wings, tail, damage to body skin or comb related to pecking, and bumblebee foot lesions.
• The scores range from 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent).

Plumage Scoring Levels

• Score 4: Excellent plumage condition in which there are only a few damaged or deformed feathers.
• Score 3: Damaged feathers but still complete feathering.
• Score 2: Areas of heavy damage to feathers with bare portions.
• Score 1: Areas with few or no feathers, and very damaged feathers are found when present.

Illustration Examples of Scoring 1-4 for Each Body Part

• Images illustrate score levels 1 to 4 for body parts (neck, breast, vent/cloaca, back, wings, and tail.)

Wounds on Rear Part of Body

• Provides a scoring system for assessing damage to the rear body.
• Wounds scored from 1 to 3.

Wounds on Comb

• Provides a scoring system for assessing damage to combs.
• Wounds scored from 1 to 3

Bumble Foot Syndrome

• Includes images showing bumblebee foot conditions, scored from 1 to 3.

Lameness in Dairy Cattle

• Lameness is a significant issue in dairy cattle farms.
• Lameness reduces productivity and causes economic loss.

Etiology(causes) of Lameness

• Lameness may be caused by infectious or non-infectious agents.
• Infectious agents include organisms such as bacteria and viruses.
• Noninfectious factors are related to housing conditions, improper nutrition, and metabolic disorders (e.g. ketosis or hypoglycemia).

Lameness Incidence

• The average lameness rate is 20.6% in dairy herds.
• Direct costs include reduced milk production and veterinary expenses.
• Indirect costs include reduced fertility, risk of secondary diseases, risk of culling, and reduction in body condition.

Impact of Lameness on Reproductive Function

• Lameness negatively influences energy balance and body condition, affecting fertility indirectly.
• Behaviors like decreased standing time, walking, and feeding time directly impact fertility.
• Consequences are reduced sexual expression, average conception rates, and pregnancy rates, and increased interval times from calving to conception and cystic ovaries.

Clinical Presentation and Diagnosis of Lameness

• Approximately 80% of cases of lameness result from hoof problems.
• Key diagnosis aspects include observation of the gait, stance, and physical examination.
• Diagnosis involves localizing lameness to specific limbs from hoof analysis or use of hoof testers.

Visual Presentation of Lameness in Cows

• Illustrations in the notes visually depict different stages of cow lameness from mild to severe cases and illustrate how lameness scoring is done.

Treatment and Prevention of Lameness

• Treatment options include topical sprays for specific ailments like digital dermatitis
• Successful use of antibiotics in interdigital phlegmona cases that are treated quickly
• Lameness control includes recording, diagnosing, and treating lameness cases in cows.
  • Routine functional hoof trimming is done once-twice a year to treat the main cause of lameness.
• Effective hygiene through foot bathing assists to maintain hoof health.

Proper Nutrition Management and Housing for Cows

• Proper nutrition management is crucial in preventing lameness during the first 100 days postpartum.
• Supportive housing minimizes rumen acidosis to ensure energy intake during early lactation.
• Proper housing, free of manure, with good ventilation and bedding, prevents and mitigates lameness in confined areas by giving feet and legs a dry space.
• Rubber mats in feeding and traffic lanes further improve hygiene and encourage the cows to lay down

General Locomotion Scoring for Dairy Cows

• Monthly scoring of the herd (maximum 60-day intervals) is a must (optimal method).
• Score cows in well-maintained flat spaces with good traction.
• Doing this frequently helps reduce discrepancies in scoring.
• Avoid using uneven surfaces like grassy or concrete paddocks in the score,

###Additional Guidelines for Locomotion Scoring

• Allowing cows to stand and move at their own pace prevents stress and assures an accurate assessment.
• Scoring agitated cows is inappropriate.
• Assessing heifer scores 2 weeks before entering the milking herd helps measure the heifer breeding program.

Locomotion Scoring in Dairy Cows: Descriptions and Visual Examples

• The notes provide descriptions and images for locomotion scores 1 to 5, from normal to severe lameness.