Sensitivity of the Welfare Quality® broiler chicken protocol to differences between intensively reared indoor flocks: which factors explain overall classification?

Measuring urofecal glucocorticoid metabolites in broiler chicken: a noninvasive tool for assessing stress as a marker of welfare

The poultry industry is an important and still growing sector in many parts of the world. For ethical reasons and due to increased consumer awareness for animal welfare in production animals, it is of importance to establish a reliable and objective test system for monitoring and improving health and welfare. During the rearing process, broiler chickens are exposed to numerous potential stressors and management interventions (e.g. weighing of individual animals, preslaughter fasting and capture processes), but assessing the level of stress perceived by the animals entirely through behavioral observations can be challenging. Monitoring stress-related physiological markers, such as glucocorticoids, can be an accurate and presumably more objective addition. To avoid additional stressors induced by blood collection, a noninvasive approach using urofecal samples is advisable. However, a thorough validation is needed to establish a suitable test system for measuring stress hormone levels, including potential effects of the time of day of collection or the time that has elapsed since defecation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the stability of urofecal glucocorticoid metabolites (ufGCM) postdefecation, to determine time of day effects on ufGCM levels, and to investigate the effect of standard management procedures on ufGCM concentrations in broiler chickens. Our results revealed a time window of 4 h in which fecal samples from broilers can be collected without major alterations to the ufGCM concentrations. In this regard, a "fecal box" proved useful for collecting uncontaminated fresh samples. The time of day of sample collection did not influence ufGCM concentrations significantly. Moreover, the used assay proved to be sensitive enough to detect even small and short-lasting activations of the HPA axis induced by handling, confinement, and fasting. Thus, the system used can be a powerful and easy to apply tool in a chicken production setup for assessing stress as a marker of welfare in commercially housed broiler chickens, which in the long-term can also improve production, particularly with regard to process quality.

Assessment of Welfare Problems in Broilers: Focus on Musculoskeletal Problems Associated with Their Rapid Growth

The growth of the broiler industry has been accompanied with concerns over the environmental and social impacts on intensive production systems, as well as the welfare of the animals themselves. As a result, since the 2000s, there has been growing interest in alternative production systems that improve animal welfare and sustainability. In this context, it is important to prioritize the welfare of broilers in commercial production systems and to use reliable welfare indicators to provide consumers with information about the welfare of the animals they consume. Resource-based measures (RBM) are based on assessing the resources available to the birds in terms of their housing, environment, and management practices, such as stocking density, litter quality, lighting and air quality, etc. Outcome-based measures (OBM), also known as animal-based measures, focus on assessing the actual welfare outcomes for the birds, such as footpad dermatitis, hock burn, contamination or damage to feathers, gait score, mortality, etc. These OBM-based measures are one of the more direct indicators of welfare and can help identify any welfare issues. The present review highlighted the factors that affect animal welfare indicators focused on OBMs which can be used in the commercial broiler farms.

Development of a novel primate welfare assessment tool for research macaques

Primates are important species for biomedical research and ensuring their good welfare is critical for research translatability and ethical responsibility. Systematic animal welfare assessments can support continuous programme improvements and build institutional awareness of areas requiring more attention. A multi-facility, collaborative project aimed to develop and implement a novel primate welfare assessment tool (PWAT) for use with research macaques. PWAT development involved: establishing an internal focus group of primate subject matter experts, identifying animal welfare categories and descriptors based on literature review, developing a preliminary tool, beta-testing the tool to ensure practicality and final consensus on descriptors, finalising the tool in a database with semi-automated data analysis, and delivering the tool to 13 sites across four countries. The tool uses input- and outcome-based measures from six categories: physical, behavioural, training, environmental, procedural, and culture of care. The final tool has 133 descriptors weighted based upon welfare impact, and is split into three forms for ease of use (room level, site level, and personnel interviews). The PWAT was trialled across facilities in March and September 2022 for benchmarking current macaque behavioural management programmes. The tool successfully distinguished strengths and challenges at the facility level and across sites. Following this benchmarking, the tool is being applied semi-annually to assess and monitor progress in behavioural management programmes. The development process of the PWAT demonstrates that evidence-based assessment tools can be developed through collaboration and consensus building, which are important for uptake and applicability, and ultimately for promoting global improvements in research macaque welfare.

Welfare of broilers on farm

This Scientific Opinion considers the welfare of domestic fowl (Gallus gallus) related to the production of meat (broilers) and includes the keeping of day-old chicks, broiler breeders, and broiler chickens. Currently used husbandry systems in the EU are described. Overall, 19 highly relevant welfare consequences (WCs) were identified based on severity, duration and frequency of occurrence: 'bone lesions', 'cold stress', 'gastro-enteric disorders', 'group stress', 'handling stress', 'heat stress', 'isolation stress', 'inability to perform comfort behaviour', 'inability to perform exploratory or foraging behaviour', 'inability to avoid unwanted sexual behaviour', 'locomotory disorders', 'prolonged hunger', 'prolonged thirst', 'predation stress', 'restriction of movement', 'resting problems', 'sensory under- and overstimulation', 'soft tissue and integument damage' and 'umbilical disorders'. These WCs and their animal-based measures (ABMs) that can identify them are described in detail. A variety of hazards related to the different husbandry systems were identified as well as ABMs for assessing the different WCs. Measures to prevent or correct the hazards and/or mitigate each of the WCs are listed. Recommendations are provided on quantitative or qualitative criteria to answer specific questions on the welfare of broilers and related to genetic selection, temperature, feed and water restriction, use of cages, light, air quality and mutilations in breeders such as beak trimming, de-toeing and comb dubbing. In addition, minimal requirements (e.g. stocking density, group size, nests, provision of litter, perches and platforms, drinkers and feeders, of covered veranda and outdoor range) for an enclosure for keeping broiler chickens (fast-growing, slower-growing and broiler breeders) are recommended. Finally, 'total mortality', 'wounds', 'carcass condemnation' and 'footpad dermatitis' are proposed as indicators for monitoring at slaughter the welfare of broilers on-farm.

Differences and variation in welfare performance of broiler flocks in three production systems

There is a trend toward broiler production systems with higher welfare requirements, that use slower growing broiler strains, apply a reduced stocking density and provide environmental enrichment. Although these separate factors each contribute to increased broiler welfare, there is little information on their combined effect on broiler welfare under commercial conditions, and on the variation in welfare performance of flocks within production systems. The aim of this study was to compare the welfare performance and the between-flock variation in welfare of 3 Dutch commercial broiler production systems differing in welfare requirements: Conventional (C), Dutch Retail Broiler (DRB) and Better Life one star (BLS). We applied a welfare assessment method based on the Welfare Quality broiler assessment protocol, in which we used 5 animal-based welfare measures collected by slaughterhouses and hatcheries (mortality, footpad dermatitis, hock burn, breast irritation, scratches), and 3 resource- or management-based measures (stocking density, early feeding, environmental enrichment). Data were collected for at least 1889 flocks per production system over a 2-year period. To compare the different measures and to generate an overall flock welfare score, we calculated a score on a scale from 0 to 100 (bad-good) for each measure based on expert opinion. The overall flock score was the sum of the scores of the different welfare measures. The results showed that with increasing welfare requirements, a higher total welfare score was found across production systems (BLS > DRB > C; P < 0.0001). Regarding individual measures, C generally had lower (worse) scores than BLS and DRB (P < 0.05), except for scratches where C had highest (best) score (P < 0.001). Both welfare measure scores and the total welfare score of flocks showed large variation within and overlap between systems, and the latter especially when only the animal-based measures were included in the total flock score. Total flock score ranges including animal-based measures only were: 112.1 to 488.3 for C, 113.0 to 486.9 for DRB, 151.3 to 490.0 for BLS (on a scale from 0 [bad]–500 [good]), with median values of 330.8 for C, 370.9 for DRB, and 396.1 for BLS respectively. This indicates that factors such as farm management and day-old chick quality can have a major effect on the welfare performance of a flock and that there is room for welfare improvement in all production systems.

Welfare Assessment Tools in Zoos: From Theory to Practice

Zoos are increasingly implementing formalized animal welfare assessment programs to allow monitoring of welfare over time, as well as to aid in resource prioritization. These programs tend to rely on assessment tools that incorporate resource-based and observational animal-focused measures. A narrative review of the literature was conducted to bring together recent studies examining welfare assessment methods in zoo animals. A summary of these methods is provided, with advantages and limitations of the approaches presented. We then highlight practical considerations with respect to implementation of these tools into practice, for example scoring schemes, weighting of criteria, and innate animal factors for consideration. It is concluded that there would be value in standardizing guidelines for development of welfare assessment tools since zoo accreditation bodies rarely prescribe these. There is also a need to develop taxon or species-specific assessment tools to complement more generic processes and more directly inform welfare management.

Market driven initiatives can improve broiler welfare - a comparison across five European countries based on the Benchmark method

Two kinds of initiatives exist to ensure welfare in broiler production: welfare legislation, where all broiler production in a country or region must comply with legally defined welfare standards; and market driven initiatives, where part of the production must meet specific welfare standards and is sold with a particular label, typically at a price premium, or as part of minimum welfare standards defined by a retailer, a fast-food chain or the like. While the effects of national legislation may be undermined by price competition from lower welfare imported products, the effects of market driven initiatives may be limited by lack of willingness from consumers to pay the extra cost. To investigate how this works out in practice, we compared broiler welfare requirements in 5 European countries, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden, in 2018, by means of the Benchmark method. A number of welfare dimensions, covering the input features typically modified in broiler welfare initiatives, were defined. A total of 27 academic welfare experts (response rate 75%) valued the different levels within each dimension on a 0 to 10 scale, and then weighted the relative contribution of each dimension to overall welfare on a 1 to 5 scale. By combining these values and weights with an inventory of existing welfare initiatives, the additional welfare generated by each initiative was calculated. Together with information on national coverage of each initiative, the Benchmark score for each country's production and consumption of chicken meat was calculated. Sweden achieved a much higher Benchmark for national production due to higher legal standards than any of the four other countries. The Netherlands, on the other hand, achieved a Benchmark for national consumption of chicken at the same level as that found in Sweden, because market driven initiatives complemented more welfare-limited Dutch legislation. So, despite some uncertainties in the Benchmark method, it appears that market driven initiatives can have a strong impact on improving broiler welfare, building on those standards achieved by animal welfare legislation.

Time-Consuming, but Necessary: A Wide Range of Measures Should Be Included in Welfare Assessments for Dairy Herds

Animal welfare assessments that measure welfare outcomes, including behavior and health, can be highly valid. However, the time and skill required are major barriers to their use. We explored whether feasibility of welfare outcome assessment for dairy herds may be improved by rationalizing the number of measures included. We compared two approaches: analyzing whether strong pairwise associations between measures existed, enabling the subsequent exclusion of associated measures; and identifying possible summary measures—“iceberg indicators”—of dairy herd welfare that could predict herd welfare status. A cross-sectional study of dairy herd welfare was undertaken by a single assessor on 51 English farms, in which 96 welfare outcome measures were assessed. All measures showed at least one pairwise association; percentage of lame cows showed the most (33 correlations). However, most correlations were weak–moderate, suggesting limited scope for excluding measures from protocols based on pairwise relationships. A composite measure of the largest portion of herd welfare status was then identified via Principal Component Analysis (Principal Component 1, accounting for 16.9% of variance), and linear regression revealed that 22 measures correlated with this. Of these 22, agreement statistics indicated that percentage of lame cows and qualitative descriptors of “calmness” and “happiness” best predicted Principal Component 1. However, even these correctly classified only ~50% of farms according to which quartile of the Principal Component 1 they occupied. Further research is recommended, but results suggest that welfare assessments incorporating many diverse measures remain necessary to provide sufficient detail about dairy herd welfare.

Developing a Reliable Welfare Assessment Tool for Captive Hibernatory Bear Species

Animal welfare assessments are essential for the identification of welfare hazards and benchmarking of welfare improvements, though welfare assessments for zoo species are lacking. Bears are commonly housed in zoos but currently no composite welfare assessment tool exists for captive bears. This study describes the development of such a tool for use across hibernating bear species. A draft tool was developed using indicators derived from the literature and a modified Delphi analysis with an international group of bear keepers. A total of 18 bear keepers from 12 zoos were recruited to trial the tool on 24 brown bears and American black bears. The participating keepers assessed their bears three times across a period of nine days. Intraclass correlation coefficients analysis was used to analyse inter-, intra-rater and item reliability. The inter- and intra-rater reliability showed good to excellent levels of agreement (>0.7, p < 0.05). Item reliability was also assessed and showed good to excellent levels of agreement (>0.75, p < 0.05). The resulting bear welfare assessment is an important step in identifying and understanding challenges to bear welfare in captivity.

Animal Welfare Assessment in Antibiotic-Free and Conventional Broiler Chicken

Simple Summary

Antibiotic resistance in the veterinary field, other than making the control of infectious diseases in farm animals progressively more difficult, can increase the risk that resistant microorganisms are transferred from animals to humans either directly—by contact or from food of animal origin—or indirectly due to environmental contamination. The poultry sector is now moving towards antibiotic-free production in order to meet the rising market demand, but this could affect the health and welfare of chickens. In this study, we compared the welfare of broiler chickens raised with and without the use antibiotics on a commercial scale. We found no correlation between the absence of antibiotics and poor animal health. There is no necessary correlation between the absence of antibiotics at farms and poor health of the animals, given that adequate animal-welfare-friendly management tools and methodologies are in place. These should be, however, adequately standardised in specific guidelines. In this way, it will be possible to reduce the dependence of the livestock sector on antimicrobials with regard to animal welfare and human health.

Abstract

The poultry sector is moving towards antibiotic-free production, both to challenge the increasing spread of the antibiotic resistance phenomenon and to meet market demands. This could negatively impact the health and welfare of the animals. In this study, the welfare of 14 batches of 41–47-day-old broilers raised by the same integrated company with and without antibiotics was assessed using the Welfare Quality^® protocol. The total welfare score did not significantly differ between the two systems: the good-feeding principle was, on average, higher in the conventional batches, with statistical significance (t = −2.45; p = 0.024), while the other welfare principles (good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour) were slightly better in the antibiotic-free batches. Despite stocking densities averagely higher in the antibiotic-free batches, the absence of antibiotics did not seem to impact the good-health principle; in particular, hock burns, foot pad dermatitis and lameness were significantly less severe in the antibiotic-free batches (p < 0.0001, p = 0.018, p < 0.0001, respectively), which showed also a lower death rate (2.34% vs. 2.50%). Better management of antibiotic-free batches was reported, particularly concerning litter conditions. Further studies would be required to identify and standardise a set of managerial methodologies in order to improve the health of broilers raised without antibiotics.

Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken

Broiler chickens are prone to a range of complex health and welfare issues. To support informed selection of welfare traits whilst minimising impact on production efficiency and to address a major gap in understanding, we systematically explored associations between health and behavioural indicators of broiler welfare. One conventional (CNV, n = 350) and two slow-growing broiler breeds (SGH and SGN, respectively n = 400) were reared from hatch in pens of 50 birds. Birds were assessed for health (gait, plumage cover and dirtiness, pododermatitis, hockburn, and leg deviations) at 2.2 kg liveweight according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Broiler Breed Welfare Assessment Protocol. Behaviour and resource-use of 10% of birds per pen, on days 29 (all breeds) and 43 (SGH and SGN), was (i) scan sampled every 60 min between three to six and between twelve to fifteen hours after photoperiod onset; and (ii) continuously sampled sequentially from focal birds for 3 min each in a random order, during 15 min observation periods at three and twelve hours after photoperiod onset. Binary logistic generalized linear models were used, to assess respective associations between pen prevalence of each health outcome and (i) pen mean percentage scans of behaviour, and (ii) pen mean frequency and duration per 3 min focal observation of behaviour. Better growth rate and feed conversion but poorer health outcomes (mortality, gait, pododermatitis, feather cover) were more prevalent in CNV. Strong associations between behaviour and several heath indicators revealed, (i) increases in side-lying inactive, sitting inactive, and use of the litter relative to other resources, as primary and general indicators of poorer health, and (ii) increases in standing inactive, perch use, walking, Comfort, High Energy and Exploratory behaviour as primary and general indicators of better health. Of these, changes in side-lying, standing inactive, walking, Comfort and High Energy behaviour were particularly sensitive to small differences in health outcomes important for breed acceptance in high-welfare schemes. Crucially these behavioural measures additionally represent motivational and affective aspects of welfare not captured by health measures and allow opportunity for earlier intervention. Thus, to provide a comprehensive assessment of broiler experience, behaviour should be incorporated into broiler welfare assessments.

Using Expert Elicitation to Abridge the Welfare Quality® Protocol for Monitoring the Most Adverse Dairy Cattle Welfare Impairments

The Welfare Quality® consortium has developed and proposed standard protocols for monitoring farm animal welfare. The uptake of the dairy cattle protocol has been below expectation, however, and it has been criticized for the variable quality of the welfare measures and for a limited number of measures having a disproportionally large effect on the integrated welfare categorization. Aiming for a wide uptake by the milk industry, we revised and simplified the Welfare Quality® protocol into a user-friendly tool for cost- and time-efficient on-farm monitoring of dairy cattle welfare with a minimal number of key animal-based measures that are aggregated into a continuous (and thus discriminative) welfare index (WI). The inevitable subjective decisions were based upon expert opinion, as considerable expertise about cattle welfare issues and about the interpretation, importance, and validity of the welfare measures was deemed essential. The WI is calculated as the sum of the severity score (i.e., how severely a welfare problem affects cow welfare) multiplied with the herd prevalence for each measure. The selection of measures (lameness, leanness, mortality, hairless patches, lesions/swellings, somatic cell count) and their severity scores were based on expert surveys (14–17 trained users of the Welfare Quality® cattle protocol). The prevalence of these welfare measures was assessed in 491 European herds. Experts allocated a welfare score (from 0 to 100) to 12 focus herds for which the prevalence of each welfare measure was benchmarked against all 491 herds. Quadratic models indicated a high correspondence between these subjective scores and the WI (R² = 0.91). The WI allows both numerical (0–100) as a qualitative (“not classified” to “excellent”) evaluation of welfare. Although it is sensitive to those welfare issues that most adversely affect cattle welfare (as identified by EFSA), the WI should be accompanied with a disclaimer that lists adverse or favorable effects that cannot be detected adequately by the current selection of measures.

A New, Practical Animal Welfare Assessment for Dairy Farmers

Simple Summary

To determine the level of welfare on a dairy farm is a complex task. There is no protocol available that can serve as a ‘gold standard’. The Welfare Quality protocol is the most extensive one, but it takes about a full day to perform. We, therefore, examined if it would be possible to replace the time-consuming parts, like lengthy behavioural observations, with simple measurements in the environment. This resulted in a new Welfare Monitor that can be executed in 1.5 h on a farm with 100 cows. Welfare assessment was appreciated by the farmers, and they responded to advice for improvements on their farm. Besides promoting better welfare, this approach also led to a better financial result for the farms.

Abstract

The Welfare Quality^® assessment protocol (WQ) is the most extensive way to measure animal welfare. This study was set up to determine if resource-based welfare indicators, that are easier and faster to measure, could replace the more time consuming, animal-based measurements of the WQ. The WQ was applied on 60 dairy farms in the Netherlands, with good, moderate and poor welfare. The WQ protocol classified most farms (87%) as ‘acceptable’. Several of the animal-based measures of WQ correlated well with measures in the environment. Using these correlations, an alternative welfare assessment protocol (new Welfare Monitor) was designed, which takes approximately 1.5 h for a farm with 100 dairy cows. Because the opinion of farmers about welfare assessment is important if one wants to improve conditions for the cows at a farm, another objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the new Welfare Monitor for the farmer. Over two years, the farms were visited, and advice was given to improve the conditions at the farm. After the first welfare assessment and advice, farmers improved the conditions for their cows substantially. Farms where the category score had increased made more improvements on average than those that did not upgrade.

Tilapia On-Farm Welfare Assessment Protocol for Semi-intensive Production Systems

The aim of this study was to develop and test a tilapia on-farm welfare assessment protocol, based on Brazilian semi-intensive production systems. The study included two mains steps: the elaboration of tilapia welfare protocol and its on-field feasibility test. The protocol, including the potential indicators organized into health, environmental, nutritional, and behavioral categories, was tested on three farms. Skin, eyes, gills, jaws, fins, and vertebral spine were individually examined in 139 individual tilapias. Water physicochemical parameters and production system were considered. The overall nutritional status of individuals was assessed through body condition factor, feed conversion ratio, feed crude protein ratio, and feed ingestion behavior. During massive capture, signals of stress, level of crowding, and duration of air exposure were registered. Time required for loss of consciousness was evaluated by clinical reflexes and other behaviors during slaughter. Eye, jaw, and gill scores were different across farms (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.011; 0.015; 0.043, respectively), showing good discrimination power. Critical welfare points were extremely low dissolved oxygen in water, fin and skin lesions, prolonged air exposure during pre-slaughter handling and non-humane slaughter techniques, as decapitation or asphyxia. The protocol presents practical viability and it is an initial step for the development of a tilapia welfare strategy, where the prioritization of critical welfare points, implementation of corrective actions and monitoring of the results is part of a permanent welfare management system.

Quantifying defence cascade responses as indicators of pig affect and welfare using computer vision methods

Affective states are key determinants of animal welfare. Assessing such states under field conditions is thus an important goal in animal welfare science. The rapid Defence Cascade (DC) response (startle, freeze) to sudden unexpected stimuli is a potential indicator of animal affect; humans and rodents in negative affective states often show potentiated startle magnitude and freeze duration. To be a practical field welfare indicator, quick and easy measurement is necessary. Here we evaluate whether DC responses can be quantified in pigs using computer vision. 280 video clips of induced DC responses made by 12 pigs were analysed by eye to provide 'ground truth' measures of startle magnitude and freeze duration which were also estimated by (i) sparse feature tracking computer vision image analysis of 200 Hz video, (ii) load platform, (iii) Kinect depth camera, and (iv) Kinematic data. Image analysis data strongly predicted ground truth measures and were strongly positively correlated with these and all other estimates of DC responses. Characteristics of the DC-inducing stimulus, pig orientation relative to it, and 'relaxed-tense' pig behaviour prior to it moderated DC responses. Computer vision image analysis thus offers a practical approach to measuring pig DC responses, and potentially pig affect and welfare, under field conditions.

Influence of dietary strategy on progression of health and behaviour in mule ducks reared for fatty liver production

Overfeeding in ducks is questioned because forced introduction of food into the animal and metabolic overload may induce damage to health and discomfort. In this context, the objective of our experiment was to measure the impact of dietary strategy on the progression of animal status evaluated through 28 health and behavioural indicators in ducks reared for fatty liver production. To do this, 320 ducks were forced-fed twice a day from 70 to 90 days of age including 10 days of overfeeding (87 to 96 days). They were divided into two groups differing in the feeding strategy during overfeeding period: a moderate feed intake (MI, an average of 376 g of maize flour per meal, n = 160 ducks) or at high feed intake (HI, 414 g/meal, n = 160 ducks). We evaluated 28 indicators related to Good feeding (n = 3), Good housing (n = 4), Good health (n = 10) and Appropriate behaviour (n = 11) principles, taken from the European Welfare Quality Consortium® at four stages: before overfeeding (BEF; 80 days), at the beginning (88 days), the middle (MID; 92 days) or the end of overfeeding (END; 96 days). Animals were slaughtered at 93 and 97 days to measure fatty liver weight at MID and END stages (n = 80 per group). The results showed that dietary strategy influenced the fatty liver weight at MID (+23% in HI v. MI group; P < 0;05) and END stage (+23%; P < 0.05). Assessment stage influenced 13 of the 28 indicators measured. Among these 13 indicators, (i) BEF differed from END stage for 7 indicators and (ii) the dietary strategy degraded all the indicators chosen to evaluate the Good feeding (2/2) principle, but had no effect on the indicators related to the Good health (0/4) principle while (iii) most of the indicators that evaluated Good housing (2/3) and Appropriate behaviour (2/4) principles were affected by an interaction between both factors. Our results suggest that (i) duck fattening status, including the fatty liver weight, and several welfare indicators progressed during the fatty liver production process; and (ii) feeding strategy influenced or even interacted with this progression.

Broiler welfare trade-off: A semi-quantitative welfare assessment for optimised welfare improvement based on an expert survey

In order to support decision making on how to most effectively improve broiler welfare an innovative expert survey was conducted based on principles derived from semantic modelling. Twenty-seven experts, mainly broiler welfare scientists (n = 20; and 7 veterinarians), responded (response rate 38%) by giving welfare scores (GWS, scale 0–10) to 14 benchmarking housing systems (HSs), and explaining these overall scores by selecting, weighing and scoring main welfare parameters, including both input and output measures. Data exploration followed by REML (Linear Mixed Model) and ALM (Automatic Linear Modelling) analyses revealed 6 clusters of HSs, sorted from high to low welfare, i.e. mean GWS (with superscripts indicating significant differences): 1. (semi-natural backyard) Flock (8.8^a); 2. Nature (7.7^ab), Label Rouge II (7.4^ab), Free range EU (7.2^ab), Better Life (7.2^ab); 3. Organic EU (7.0^bc), Freedom Food (6.2^bc); 4. Organic US (5.8^bcd), Concepts NL (5.6^abcdef), GAP 2 (4.9^bcd); 5. Conventional EU (3.7^de), Conventional US (2.9^ef), Modern cage (2.9^abcdef); 6. Battery cage (1.3^f). Mean weighting factors (WF, scale 0–10) of frequently (n> = 15) scored parameters were: Lameness (8.8), Health status (8.6), Litter (8.3), Density (8.2), Air quality (8.1), Breed (8.0), Enrichment (7.0) and Outdoor (6.6). These did not differ significantly, and did not have much added value in explaining GWS. Effects of Role (Scientist/Vet), Gender (M/F) and Region (EU/non-EU) did not significantly affect GWS or WF, except that women provided higher WF than men (7.2 vs 6.4, p<0.001). The contribution of welfare components to overall welfare has been quantified in two ways: a) using the beta-coefficients of statistical regression (ALM) analyses, and b) using a semantic-modelling type (weighted average) calculation of overall scores (CalcWS) from parameter level scores (PLS) and WF. GWS and CalcWS were highly correlated (R = ~0.85). CalcWS identified Lameness, Health status, Density, Breed, Air quality and Litter as main parameters contributing to welfare. ALM showed that the main parameters which significantly explained the variance in GWS based on all PLS, were the output parameter Health status (with a beta-coefficient of 0.38), and the input parameters (stocking) Density (0.42), Litter (0.14) and Enrichment (0.27). The beta-coefficients indicated how much GWS would improve from 1 unit improvement in PLS for each parameter, thus the potential impact on GWS ranged from 1.4 welfare points for Litter to 4.2 points for Density. When all parameters were included, 81% of the variance in GWS was explained (77% for inputs alone; 39% for outputs alone). From this, it appears that experts use both input and output parameters to explain overall welfare, and that both are important. The major conventional systems and modern cages for broilers received low welfare scores (2.9–3.7), well below scores that may be considered acceptable (5.5). Also, several alternatives like GAP 2 (4.9), Concepts NL (5.6), Organic US (5.8) and Freedom Food (6.2) are unacceptable, or at risk of being unacceptable due to individual variation between experts and farms. Thus, this expert survey provides a preliminary semi-quantified decision-support tool to help determine how to most effectively improve broiler welfare in a wide range of HSs.

Broiler Chickens On-Farm Welfare Assessment: Estimating the Robustness of the Transect Sampling Method

Assessing commercial broiler chickens' welfare usually comes at the cost of reduced precision due to the large flock sizes and required time commitments. The transect method for on-farm welfare assessment is conducted by walking within delimited paths between feeder and drinker lines within the commercial house, referred to as transects. This non-invasive method is conducted by detecting birds with signs of impaired welfare indicators, which include leg problems, sickness, body wounds, and feather dirtiness. The transect method has been validated for commercial turkey flocks but not for broiler chickens due to the large flock sizes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the robustness of the transect method in broiler chicken flocks through a capture-recapture approach of a known subpopulation of 80 birds. Groups of 10 chickens were captured and individually marked in eight locations of the house. Two observers collected the number and position of the detected marked birds while walking along non-adjacent transects (four samplings/house/day) during the two following days. Detection and repetition rates per house, and within transects, were calculated, as well as the effects of flock density, transect number/house (six vs. eight), and sampling time (morning vs. afternoon). The number of traveled transects was calculated for birds detected more than once, and the population random distribution was tested by comparing the number of observed and expected birds/transect. Results showed more than 64% of detection rate with a repetition rate/house sampling of 24% and per transect of 1.66%. Higher repetition rates in six-transect houses and during morning samplings were detected. The number of traveled transects was higher in eight-transect houses and from birds first detected at walls, indicating longer traveled distances in wider houses. In addition, bootstrapping techniques were used to calculate the optimal sampling effort. Our findings indicate that the lowest repetition rates and optimal sampling can be achieved by assessing two transects, being one wall and one central, separated by three transects in between. Such sampling procedure would provide robust results for welfare assessment of commercial broiler chicken flocks.

A Review of Welfare Assessment Methods in Reptiles, and Preliminary Application of the Welfare Quality® Protocol to the Pygmy Blue-Tongue Skink, Tiliqua adelaidensis, Using Animal-Based Measures

Reptiles are held at wildlife parks and zoos for display and conservation breeding programs and are increasingly being kept as pets. Reliable indicators of welfare for reptiles need to be identified. Current guidelines for the captive management of reptiles utilize resource-based, rather than animal-based indicators; the latter being a more direct reflection of affective state. In this paper we review the literature on welfare assessment methods in reptiles with a focus on animal-based measures. We conclude that, whilst a number of physiological and behavioral indicators of welfare have been applied in reptiles, there is need for further validation of these methods across the diversity of species within the Class. Methods of positive welfare state assessment are comparatively understudied and need elucidation. Finally, we examine some widely-used welfare assessment tools in mammals and explore the application of the Welfare Quality^® Protocol to the endangered pygmy blue-tongue skink, Tiliqua adelaidensis. We propose that this framework can form the basis for the development of taxon-specific tools with consideration of species-specific biology.

Risk factors associated with beef cattle losses on intensive fattening farms in Austria, Germany and Italy

The aim of this study was to investigate management and feeding practices associated with on-farm loss rate (mortality) on 63 beef cattle farms in Austria, Germany and Italy with housing systems other than fully slatted pens. Information on mortality and 56 categorised factors relating to the cleanliness of animal facilities, health and feeding management, animal-human interaction, cattle transport and origin were gathered during on-farm visits. Samples of total mixed rations (TMRs) were collected and analysed for chemical composition and particle size distribution. Twenty-eight categorised factors were removed from the initial 56 due to exclusion criteria (missing data≥20% and/or monolevel factors with≥80% answers in one category). Mortality was the response variable in the risk factor analysis and the remaining 10 continuous covariates from TMR analyses and 28 categorised factors were independent predictors. Mean (±standard deviation) mortality, representing the proportion of dead, euthanased and early culled animals over the total number of animals bought in or reared in the previous year, was 2.8±3.5%. Fourteen factors were significantly associated with mortality in the bivariable analyses; seven factors were not considered further in the multivariable analysis due to collinearity. None of the factors related to TMR were associated with mortality. Four categorical factors, referring to biosecurity measures and management, were retained in the final multivariable model, with country effect. Buying cattle from only one farm, no mixing of animals during transport, presence of a dedicated sick pen and keeping production records were associated with lower percentage mortality.

Trained-user opinion about Welfare Quality measures and integrated scoring of dairy cattle welfare

The Welfare Quality (WQ) protocol for on-farm dairy cattle welfare assessment describes 27 measures and a stepwise method for integrating values for these measures into 11 criteria scores, grouped further into 4 principle scores and finally into an overall welfare categorization with 4 levels. We conducted an online survey to examine whether trained users' opinions of the WQ protocol for dairy cattle correspond with the integrated scores (criteria, principles, and overall categorization) calculated according to the WQ protocol. First, the trained users' scores (n = 8-15) for reliability and validity and their ranking of the importance of all measures for herd welfare were compared with the degree of actual effect of these measures on the WQ integrated scores. Logistic regression was applied to identify the measures that affected the WQ overall welfare categorization into the "not classified" or "enhanced" categories for a database of 491 European herds. The smallest multivariate model maintaining the highest percentage of both sensitivity and specificity for the "enhanced" category contained 6 measures, whereas the model for "not classified" contained 4 measures. Some of the measures that were ranked as least important by trained users (e.g., measures relating to drinkers) had the highest influence on the WQ overall welfare categorization. Conversely, measures rated as most important by the trained users (e.g., lameness and mortality) had a lower effect on the WQ overall category. In addition, trained users were asked to allocate criterion and overall welfare scores to 7 focal herds selected from the database (n = 491 herds). Data on all WQ measures for these focal herds relative to all other herds in the database were provided. The degree to which expert scores corresponded to each other, the systematic difference, and the correspondence between median trained-user opinion and the WQ criterion scores were then tested. The level of correspondence between expert scoring and WQ scoring for 6 of the 12 criteria and for the overall welfare score was low. The WQ scores of the protocol for dairy cattle thus lacked correspondence with trained users on the importance of several welfare measures.