608 research outputs found

    DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE WELFARE ASSESSMENT PROTOCOL FOR HORSES AND DONKEYS

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    Animal welfare describes a potentially measurable quality of a living animal and it relates to both the animal\u2019s feelings as well as to its health state. Public concern about equine welfare has steadily grown during recent years not only among riders and horsepersons, but also among passionates and general public. In the present thesis, with the global aim to develop a welfare assessment protocol for horses and donkeys that can be used on-farm, a review of the literature to date and research studies carried out in the frame of the Animal Welfare Indicators project (AWIN) are presented. The importance of the use of valid and reliable animal-based indicators is highlighted throughout the thesis as well as on-farm feasibility. Horse Grimace Scale is presented as a new indicator to assess pain in horses. Other studies are related to the validation and refinement of other animal-based indicators such as a Novel Object fear test, Human-Animal relationship tests and the Qualitative Behaviour Assessment. Furthermore, the outstanding innovation of the AWIN project is the dissemination of the scientific results to stakeholders through the preparation of new training tools, such as learning objects and apps. In fact, the possibility of using new tools to disseminate little pieces of knowledge can help to increase awareness of people working with equines in their welfare, shorten the time needed for dissemination of good scientific information and indirectly to improve the welfare condition of horses and donkeys. The welfare indicators and the training material developed in the frame of the AWIN project and reported in this thesis represent a useful toolbox that can be used to respond to the increasing of the expectations toward a more efficient and transparent evaluation of animal welfare for species where no EU standards exist

    Development and validation of a test for the classification of horses as broken or unbroken

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    Regulation EC 1/2005 has stricter rules for transportation of unbroken (untamed) vs. broken (tamed) horses, but does not provide adequate tools for their identification. This study aimed to develop and validate such a tool. A behavioural test (Broken/Unbroken Test (BUT)) based on approaching, haltering, and leading was applied to 100 horses. Physiological and additional behavioural data were also collected, and the horses’ status (broken/unbroken) was assessed by the expert who administered the BUT. Each horse’s behaviour during the BUT was scored by four trained observers blinded to the horse’s history. The BUT score showed excellent inter-observer, intra-observer, and test–retest reliability (all intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) > 0.75). It was also negatively associated with respiratory rate, avoidance distance, and time needed to approach, halter, and lead the horse (p < 0.05 for all). The optimal BUT score cut-off for discrimination between broken and unbroken horses (gold standard: expert judgment) showed 97.8% sensitivity and 97.3% specificity. There was almost perfect agreement between BUT-based and expert classification of horses (ICC = 0.940). These findings confirm the BUT’s construct and criterion validity. The BUT could provide officials with a feasible, reliable, and valid tool to identify a horse’s broken/unbroken status and, consequently, direct stakeholders towards correct transport procedures

    Sistema Intensivo de SuĂ­nos Criados ao Ar Livre - SISCAL: bebedouro de vaso comunicante - Germinado - Santa Rosa.

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    Sistema Intensivo de SuĂ­nos Criados ao Ar Livre - SISCAL : dimensionamento de um sistema.

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    Kit de maternidade - AuxĂ­lio ao parto.

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