Barriers and levers of enhancing animal welfare in organic and low-input outdoor production: Insights from a supply chain survey

Animal welfare is an essential part of the sustainability of animal production. While low-input farming, such as organic animal production, is often considered animal-friendly, several ways to enhance animal welfare in low-input animal production exist. However, currently there is little information on how farmers and other supply chain actors view different innovations and tools which may influence animal welfare in low-input outdoor and organic production systems. The aim of this study was to examine farmers’ and experts’ reactions to new approaches to pig and poultry production, with special attention to their animal welfare-related measures. The reactions were tested formally in by using a quantitative survey instrument in nine European countries (Finland, UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania). In the survey, respondents’ views on production practices and novel measures were asked. These included aspects such as applicability and advantages and disadvantages of various measures such as avoiding mutilations, using dual-purpose or local breeds, or in-ovo sexing. The data included altogether 218 responses from nine countries. Differences between countries were tested and groups of respondents were identified. The results suggest that supply side stakeholders foresee the welfare benefits and some disadvantages of welfare improving measures proposed to them. However, they also indicate that several measures were considered inapplicable despite their benefits. Inadequate financial provisions to adopt a measure was considered as one of the most important reasons for inapplicability of a measure. This may imply either high costs of implementing measures of low market incentives or perceived low demand for animal-friendly products. Other barriers for adopting welfare-friendly measures included farm-specific factors such as limitations imposed by housing. The respondents indicated a high relative preference for feeding, breeding, shelter from predators and the use of vaccines and anti-parasitic treatments to the provision of enrichments and nesting material to pigs, and to mutilations. Farmers agreed that environmental enrichments are important welfare-improving levers and preferred their use in low-input pig and poultry production. Animal breeding-related measures in pig production were perceived quite favorably by supply side stakeholders. Despite their welfare benefits, farmers in some countries had quite high preference towards maintaining castration and tail docking in pig and beak trimming in broiler production as part of their production method

Multicomponent carbohydrase system from Trichoderma reesei: A toolbox to address complexity of cell walls of plant substrates in animal feed.

A diverse range of monocot and dicot grains and their by-products are commonly used in the animal feed industry. They all come with complex and variable cell wall structures which in turn contribute significant fiber to the complete feed. The cell wall is a highly interconnected matrix of various polysaccharides, proteins and lignin and, as such, requires a collaborative effort of different enzymes for its degradation. In this regard, we investigated the potential of a commercial multicomponent carbohydrase product from a wild type fermentation of Trichoderma reesei (T. reesei) (RONOZYME® MultiGrain) in degrading cell wall components of wheat, barley, rye, de-oiled rice bran, sunflower, rapeseed and cassava. A total of thirty-one different enzyme proteins were identified in the T. Reesei carbohydrase product using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry LC-MS/MS including glycosyl hydrolases and carbohydrate esterases. As measured by in vitro incubations and non-starch polysaccharide component analysis, and visualization by immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy imaging of immuno-labeled samples with confocal microscopy, the carbohydrase product effectively solubilized cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic polysaccharides present in the cell walls of all the feed ingredients evaluated. The T. reesei fermentation also decreased viscosity of arabinoxylan, xyloglucan, galactomannan and β-glucan substrates. Combination of several debranching enzymes including arabinofuranosidase, xylosidase, α-galactosidase, acetyl xylan esterase, and 4-O-methyl-glucuronoyl methylesterase with both GH10 and GH11 xylanases in the carbohydrase product resulted in effective hydrolyzation of heavily branched glucuronoarabinoxylans. The different β-glucanases (both endo-β-1,3(4)-glucanase and endo-β-1,3-glucanase), cellulases and a β-glucosidase in the T. reesei fermentation effectively reduced polymerization of both β-glucans and cellulose polysaccharides of viscous cereals grains (wheat, barley, rye and oat). Interestingly, the secretome of T. reesei contained significant amounts of an exceptional direct chain-cutting enzyme from the GH74 family (Cel74A, xyloglucan-specific β-1,4-endoglucanase), that strictly cleaves the xyloglucan backbone at the substituted regions. Here, we demonstrated that the balance of enzymes present in the T. reesei secretome is capable of degrading various cell wall components in both monocot and dicot plant raw material used as animal feed

GH11 xylanase increases prebiotic oligosaccharides from wheat bran favouring butyrate-producing bacteria in vitro

Alternative solutions to optimise intestinal health in monogastric animals have become essential since the ban of antimicrobials in animal feed. In this study, the prebiotic potential of a commercial feed GH11 xylanase was investigated in vitro. Enzymatic degradation of arabinoxylan (AX), the substrate present in wheat bran cell walls, was visualised using immuno-microscopy techniques. The arabinoxylooligosaccharides (AXOS) generated by the enzyme were analysed by non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) analysis, mass spectrometry (MS) and carbohydrate chromatography to investigate how AXOS glycan complexity and enzyme dosage may affect fermentation patterns in a wheat-based diet. Using a 10 mg EP/kg dosage of xylanase, AXOS with an average degree of polymerisation (avDP) of 10 were generated, while using a higher enzyme dosage (50 mg EP/kg) avDP shifted to 4-8. For both enzyme concentrations, AXOS had an arabinose/xylose ratio of similar to 0.4. Wheat bran incubated without or with xylanase was simultaneously fermented by broiler cecal bacteria in vitro and short chain fatty acid production was monitored. A small (but significant) increase in butyrate production by addition of xylanase was shown to be dose-dependent and increased by 2 mM (P < 0.05) compared to control by adding 50 mg EP/kg enzyme dosage. Butyrate-producing bacterial genera Faecalibacterium and Intestinimonas were significantly increased in fermentation reactions of wheat bran with GH11 xylanase addition while Bacteroidetes levels were significantly lowered. Supernatants from fermentation reactions of wheat bran incubated with and without xylanase and cecal microbiota were tested in an intestinal epithelial layer permeability assay using Caco-2 cells stimulated with LPS. The xylanase addition to the bran incubated with cecal content of broilers reversed LPS-induced epithelial layer resistance losses. The GH11 xylanase was able to solubilise and degrade wheat bran AX to yield low avDP AXOS that can be fermented by cecal microbiota, resulting in microbiota shifts and beneficial effects on transepithelial resistance in vitro

Barriers and levers to enhance laying hen welfare in low-input and organic farming – a supply chain survey

International audienceWithin low-input outdoor and organic poultry production systems, providing free range potentially favouring animal natural behaviour, but increasing risks for health, some laying hen farming practices have the goal to improve animal welfare. How supply chain actors (e.g. farmers, veterinarians and farm advisors) perceive these practices has not yet been studied, though their perspective is necessary for feasibility assessment and future decision-making. A survey was conducted to compare views of supply chain actors in nine different EU countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and the UK) on management practices. Respondents were asked to assess the advantages and disadvantages of measures that aim to improve laying hen welfare, such as in-ovo sexing, the use of dual-purpose breeds, and the reduction of mutilations such as beak trimming. An exploratory factor analysis of 113 responses showed that supply chain actors were aware of the potential welfare benefits, but also of the disadvantages associated with some of these measures. Measures favoured by respondents were the provision of enrichment (85%) and shelter opportunities (86%) and the use of vaccines and antiparasitic treatments (65%). Keeping birds with intact beaks was favoured by the majority of farmers (63%), though this opinion varied between countries (p=0.05), thus probably reflecting local markets and regulations. Financial limitations were considered the main barrier to the implementation of welfare improving measures (70.4%).The study was part of the PPILOW project (Poultry and Pig Low-input and Organic production systems’ Welfare), receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 816172

Consumer views on animal welfare and organic and low-input farming: Results from a European survey

International audienc

Consumer views on animal welfare and organic and low-input farming: Results from a European survey

International audienc