Footpad dermatitis and pain assessment in turkey poults using analgesia and objective gait analysis

The relationships between litter moisture, footpad dermatitis (FPD) and pain in medium-heavy turkey strains was studied by gait analysis in two medium-heavy with and without analgesia (betamethasone or bupivacaine). The relationship between FPD and litter moisture was linear above a breakpoint of 49% litter moisture, and there were no differences between the two breeds in susceptibility to FPD. Gait analysis showed higher impulse, single support time, stride time and stance time in breed A compared to breed B. Significant interactions between breed, litter and analgesic for impulse, single support time and stride time were associated with higher means for breed A given saline injection on wet litter. Data from betamethasone analgesia in Experiments 1 and 3 were combined for analysis. Peak vertical force was higher in saline- compared to betamethasone-treated birds. Compared to the wet (high FPD) litter treatments, birds on dry (low FPD) litter had greater speed and lower double support time and longer stride length. Turkeys kept on wet litter had a longer stride length compared to dry litter when given saline, whereas in betamethasone-treated birds the means were similar. There were no differences between birds with or without bupivacaine analgesia. Peak vertical force was higher in breed A than B and in birds with a low FPD compared to a high FPD score. It was concluded that breeds A and B did not differ in susceptibility to develop FPD when housed on wet litter but may have natural gait differences. Significant changes in gait parameters were associated with wet litter and with analgesic treatments. The results showed that FPD affected the gait of the turkeys and, combined with evidence of behavioural changes when given analgesia, suggest that footpad lesions are painful.</p

Effect of crude protein concentration and dietary electrolyte balance on litter quality, foot pad dermatitis, growth performance and processing yields in two medium heavy turkey hybrids

1. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of crude protein (CP) concentration and dietary electrolyte balance (DEB) on growth performance, processing yields, litter quality and foot pad dermatitis (FPD) in male turkeys from two commercial hybrids. Soya bean meal was replaced by vegetable protein sources selected for lower K concentrations to lower DEB in order to improve litter quality and subsequent quality of foot pads.2. Effects of CP on litter friability and wetness were not consistent during the production period. FPD in turkeys fed on diets with low CP was significantly lower than FPD in turkeys fed on diets with high CP until 84 d. Growth performance was adversely affected at low CP. Processing yields were not affected by CP.3. Litter was significantly dryer in pens of turkeys fed on diets with low DEB than in pens of turkeys fed on diets with high DEB. FPD in turkeys fed on diets with low DEB was significantly lower than in turkeys fed on diets with high DEB. Growth performance and processing yields were adversely affected at low DEB.4. FPD in turkey hybrid A was higher than in turkey hybrid B at 28 d of age. Thereafter, no differences in FPD between turkey hybrids were observed. Growth performance and processing yields were not affected by turkey hybrid.5. Overall, a significant interaction effect of CP × DEB was observed for FCR: in turkeys fed on the high DEB treatment, FCR of turkeys fed on the high CP diets was lower than FCR of turkeys fed on the low CP (LCP) diets whereas on the low DEB treatment, FCR was not affected by CP treatment.6. It was concluded that litter quality can be improved and FPD may be decreased in turkeys fed on diets containing lower CP and DEB levels.<br/

Identification of a practical and reliable method for the evaluation of litter moisture in turkey production

1. An experiment was conducted to compare 5 different methods for the evaluation of litter moisture. 2. For litter collection and assessment, 55 farms were selected, one shed from each farm was inspected and 9 points were identified within each shed. 3. For each device, used for the evaluation of litter moisture, mean and standard deviation of wetness measures per collection point were assessed. 4. The reliability and overall consistency between the 5 instruments used to measure wetness were high (α = 0.72). 5. Measurement of three out of the 9 collection points were sufficient to provide a reliable assessment of litter moisture throughout the shed. 6. Based on the direct correlation between litter moisture and footpad lesions, litter moisture measurement can be used as a resource based on-farm animal welfare indicator. 7. Among the 5 methods analysed, visual scoring is the most simple and practical, and therefore the best candidate to be used on-farm for animal welfare assessment

Ressursbruk knyttet til drift og vedlikehold av kommunale skolebygg : En empirisk undersøkelse av ressursbruken knyttet til drift og vedlikehold av Kristiansand kommunes skolebygg i tidsperioden fra 2010 til 2018

Temaetfor denne masteroppgaven er ressursbruk knyttet til drift og vedlikehold av Kristiansand kommunes skolebygg. Drift-og vedlikeholdsmidler utgjør vanligvis en stor budsjettpost som ofte blir tilsidesatt til fordel forandre velferdsprioriteringer.På bakgrunn av dette har det i de senere årene oppstått et vedlikeholdsetterslep i flere norske kommuner.For å forhindre et ytterligere vedlikeholdsetterslep, er det i kommunal sammenheng verdifullt å vite hva som kan påvirke ressursbruken knyttet til drift og vedlikehold. Problemstillingen som undersøkes i oppgaven er derfor følgende:“Hvilke faktorer påvirker ressursbruken knyttet til drift og vedlikehold avKristiansand kommunes skolebygg?”Det teoretiske rammeverket tar for seg vedlikeholdsetterslepet,vedlikeholdsstrategier, budsjettet, livssyklusperspektivet og drift og vedlikehold av bygg. Tilslutt oppsummeres alt i en teoretisk modell.For å undersøke problemstillingen ble det benyttet en kvantitativ metodetilnærming. Det ble foretatt en innsamling av data på 37 skolebygg i Kristiansand kommunei tidsperiodenfra 2010til 2018. Disse dataene ble analysert grafisk og medto statistiske metoder for paneldata, henholdsvisenrandomeffectregresjon ogen fixedeffectregresjon.Den grafiske analysen av datasettet ga oss ikke et tilstrekkelig grunnlag til åvurdere om det forelå noen sammenhenger.Randomeffectregresjonen indikerte en sammenheng mellom ressursbruk på drift og vedlikehold og variablene alder og areal.Fixedeffectregresjonen indikerte en sammenheng mellom ressursbruk på drift og vedlikehold og variabelen alder. Konklusjonen er dermed at det kan se ut som at alderen og arealethar hatt en innvirkning på ressursbruken knyttet til drift og vedlikehold av skolebygg i Kristiansand kommunei tidsperioden fra 2010til 2018.Videre indikerer forklaringskraften i begge modellene at det sannsynligvis er ytterligere faktorer som det ikke ble testet for i våre analyser, som også er med på å påvirke ressursbruken