Development of strategies to improve quality and safety and reduce cost of production in organic and “low input” livestock production systems

The demand for organic livestock products is still increasing. To support this growth and to help remove potential obstacles the fourth Subproject of QLIF addresses several themes related to livestock farming. In this overview paper the main results to date are presented. It briefly discusses progress made on preventative treatments against pig and poultry parasites, as well as the reduction of rodent burdens on farm. The activities on probiotics and nutribiotics experiments are listed, as are studies undertaken to improve the meat quality of pigs through different protein sources and diet composition. Finally, work is being presented aiming to reduce the incidence of mastitis, and the reduction of faecal shedding of pathogens in cattle. The overview concludes that much work has been done, but that the main task of increasing competitiveness of the organic and low-input livestock sector through the implementation of our knowledge, still lies ahead of us

Effect of slatted and solid floors and permeability of floors in pig houses on environment, animal welfare and health and food safety: a review of literature

An integrated approach can improve understanding of floor performance. Not only gap width or percentage of slatted floor is important, but a minimum percentage of permeability of the total floor area appears to be decisiv

Training gilts to use a feeder station

Group housing of dry sows is compulsory in Europe from 2013 onwards. Many pig farmers who still have to convert to group housing fear the resulting demand on their ability to interact with individual animals. An example of such interaction is the training of gilts to use economically attractive but complicated feeding systems such as electronic sow feeding stations (ESF). Electronic Sow Feeding is a more complex husbandry system, which requires training from both animal and human. Pig farmers use a wide variety of training methods, ranging from a total free situation where the animals have the possibility to learn the feeding station without human interaction to systems in which the animal is confronted with thorough human interventions. The first method incorporates the risk that some animals do not consume any feed in several days. The second method is more time consuming and sometimes stressful for the animals. If a calm and relaxed training method proves to be an efficient way to train animals, this could also be used in other on farm situations. Wechsler and Lea (2007) concluded that there is a lack of studies focusing on the initial phase after the introduction of farm animals into a new housing system and a lack of studies on the way they learn to use new housing equipment. An assessment of training systems on Danish pig farms (Hansen and Vinther, 2004) has resulted in the advice not to interact too soon and let the animals discover the skills themselves. The way the animals experience the human intervention can be assessed by measuring heart rate variability (HRV) (Von Borell et al., 2007). They state that “HRV is a promising approach for evaluating stress and emotional states in animals”. The results of this project can be used in the knowledge transfer about human animal relationships within the Welfare Quality programme

Meer bevuiling bij strogebruik in aangepaste vleesvarkenshokken

In aangepaste gangbare vleesvarkenshokken geeft gebruik van stro meer hokbevuiling dan wanneer geen stro gebruikt wordt

Effect van volledig roostervloer en dichte vloer en doorlaatbaarheid van vloeren in varkensstallen op milieu, diergezondheid en -welzijn en voedselveiligheid: een literatuur review

Een integrale benadering kan leiden tot het verbeteren van een vloeruitvoering. Niet alleen spleetbreedte of aandeel roostervloer is belangrijk, maar een minimum percentage doorlaatbaarheid van het totale vloeroppervlak is doorslaggeven

EU-welfare legislation on pigs

An inventory was performed of 1) the present situation regarding the implementation of Directive 2008/120/EC and 2) national government funded research related to the Directive. Floor design and Group housing of sows are the main themes for both the additional demands to the EU legislation and the national government funded research concerning the minimum standards for the protection of pigs

Characteristics of biter and victim piglets apparent before a tail biting outbreak

Little is known about the characteristics of biters and victims before the appearance of a tail-biting outbreak in groups of pigs. This study aimed to characterise biters and victims (according to gender and performance) and to quantify their behavioural development during the 6 days preceding the tail-biting outbreak. The hypotheses tested were: (a) biters are more often female, are the lighter pigs in the group, are more restless and perform more aggressive behaviour; and (b) victims are more often male, heavier and less active. Using video recordings we carried out a detailed study of 14 pens with a tail-biting outbreak among the weaned piglets. All piglets were individually marked and we observed the behaviour of biters, victims and control piglets (piglet types). In every pen, each piglet type was observed every other day from 6 days before (D-6) to the day of the first visible tail damage (i.e. day of tail biting outbreak; D0). While the number of male biters (6 of the 14 biters) and male victims (11 of the 14 victims) was not significantly different (P = 0.13), this numerical contrast was considerable. The start weight of victims was significantly (P = 0.03) higher (8.6 kg) than those of biters (7.5 kg) and control piglets (8.0 kg). Biters tended (P = 0.08) to spend longer sitting/kneeling (3.1 min/h) than controls (1.7 min/h), but no differences were seen in the time spent lying or standing. Victims tended (P = 0.07) to change posture more often (restlessness) than controls and chased penmates more (P = 0.04) than biters. Victims also performed more (P = 0.04) aggressive behaviour than biters and controls. In contrast, biters tended (P = 0.08) to be chased by penmates more often and tended (P = 0.06) to receive more aggressive behaviour than controls. Furthermore, biters spent longer manipulating the enrichment device (P = 0.01) and the posterior/tail (P = 0.02) of their penmates than controls and tended (P = 0.06) to perform more tail bites than victims. Victims received more posterior/tail manipulation (P = 0.02) and tail bites (P = 0.04) than controls. It was also noticed that, independent of piglet type, restlessness (P = 0.03) increased and the frequency of performed tail bites tended (P = 0.08) to increase in the 6 days preceding a tail-biting outbreak. These findings may contribute to the early identification of biters or victims and support the development of strategies to minimise the occurrence of tail bitin

EU wil zicht op dierenwelzijn

Europa wil het niveau van dierenwelzijn binnen de verschillende veesectoren verhogen. In het door Brussel gefinancierde project EconWelfare wordt gezocht naar mogelijkheden om dit voor elkaar te krijgen. Over drie jaar moet het rapport met aanbevelingen klaar zij