Randomised Controlled Trial on Prophylaxis of Mastitis-Metritis-Agalactia Syndrome in Swine using Caulophyllum Logoplex and Lachesis Logoplex

BACKGROUND

 Mastitis-metritis-agalactia (MMA) syndrome occurs in the first days post-partum and causes piglet losses mainly due to malnutrition. One possibility for prophylaxis of MMA is via homeopathy. In this veterinary study, the effectiveness of a prophylactic administration of homeopathic remedies for the prevention of the occurrence of MMA in swine was evaluated.

METHODS

 In a randomised and blinded study, 60 sows were examined. Sows were randomly distributed in two groups: the experimental group (CL/LL) received a prophylactic administration of the complex homeopathic remedies Caulophyllum Logoplex and Lachesis Logoplex, and the placebo group was administered a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution in the same injection scheme as the experimental group. Clinical signs of MMA, behavioural changes, as well as production parameters, were recorded beginning with the day of farrowing until 5 days post-partum.

RESULTS

 The treatment group showed no significant effect on the occurrence of MMA in sows (CL/LL: 56.67% MMA positive sows; NaCl: 53.53% MMA positive sows). Treatment group had also no significant effect on health parameters (vaginal discharge, raised rectal temperature, shortage of milk) or behavioural parameters (impaired feeding behaviour and impaired general condition). For the production parameter average weight gain, statistically significant effects in the treatment group were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

 Prophylaxis with the homeopathic remedies Caulophyllum Logoplex and Lachesis Logoplex showed neither an improvement in MMA prevention nor an improvement in health parameters or behavioural traits in the present herd of sows.

Relationship between animal-based on-farm indicators and meat inspection data in pigs

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to validate slaughterhouse indicators collected during meat inspection as an alternative to on-farm animal welfare indicators. For this purpose, the assessments of twelve on-farm and seven slaughterhouse indicators of 628 pigs from three different farms were combined into three indices, differentiated between on-farm and slaughterhouse: (1) limb health, (2) other organ health, and (3) respiratory health. At first, an assessment at animal-level using agreement parameters was carried out to ascertain whether the same welfare or health issues were identified on-farm and at slaughterhouse, taking the production period (farrowing, rearing and fattening period) and the last weeks before slaughtering into account. Second, the connection of slaughterhouse findings on the individual on-farm health indices was examined using logistic regressions, to determine whether certain welfare issues can be better monitored using slaughterhouse indicators.

RESULTS

Acceptable agreement was determined using the Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa (PABAK) for the farrowing and fattening period, but not for the rearing period. A more detailed analysis of the weeks before slaughter shows that there is still a poor agreement 8 weeks before slaughter and an acceptable agreement 4 weeks before slaughter. This indicated the slaughterhouse indicators pneumonia, pleuritis and pericarditis as possible estimators of fever and deviant behavior on-farm and the slaughterhouse indicators bursitis and joint inflammations as possible estimators of lameness. In the second part of the analysis, the connection of slaughterhouse findings on the individual on-farm health indices was investigated; a significant influence of the farm on the limb and respiratory indices and no significant influence of the slaughterhouse findings could be determined, provided that all weekly assessments during the lifetime of the pigs have been taken into account. However, an influence of the slaughterhouse findings on the respiratory index and on the other organ index could be determined if only the weekly assessments four and eight weeks before slaughter, respectively, were taken into account.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, the possible suitable indicators detected by the PABAK, could replace some health-related indicators but a complete substitution of on-farm welfare assessment is not possible. In addition, the traceability over time must be investigated further.

Measuring welfare in rearing piglets: Test-retest reliability of selected animal-based indicators

The 'Welfare Quality ® protocols' (WQP) were developed in 2009 as objective welfare assessment tools. The WQP are based on four welfare principles: (1) 'good feeding', (2) 'good housing', (3) 'good health', and (4) 'appropriate behavior'. The included WQP-indicators were developed for growing pigs and are recommended for rearing piglets, although, to the authors' knowledge, they have not been tested in this age class. Therefore, the present study tested selected indicators from different welfare assessment protocols with regard to test-retest reliability (TRR), consistency over time, in an on-farm study on rearing pigs. This allows to investigate whether the WQP-indicators developed for growing pigs can be recommended for rearing piglets and whether the additional indicators should be included in the WQP. In total 28 selected pen- or individual-level indicators were used by one observer to assess the animal welfare of rearing piglets on three pig farms. Per batch 40 - 125 piglets were randomly selected and individually marked to record the weekly assessments. This procedure was repeated in three consecutive batches per farm and resulted in a total of 759 rearing piglets being assessed. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (RS), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and limits of agreement (LoA) were calculated to evaluate their TRR, especially if the TRR was influenced by the group of assessed animals (batch comparisons) or the age of the assessed piglets (age class comparisons). From the 28 indicators, 12 had a very low prevalence of < 1% making an assumption about their TRR meaningless. From the pen level indicators, "sneezing" achieved acceptable TRR for both comparisons and "behavioral observations" (BO) achieved in general good values (e.g. 'positive social behavior': (RS: 0.34 to 0.89; ICC: 0.00 to 0.90; LoA ϵ [-2.93; 7.41] to ϵ [-18.9; 11.5]) for both comparisons (batch, age class). The WQP-indicators of sufficient TRR, such as "tail lesions", "lameness", "wounds on the body", "human-animal-relationship test" and "BO", cannot cover the four welfare principles adequately. In particular, problems remained with the welfare principles of 'good feeding', 'good housing' and partly 'good health'. However, these grievances could be overcome by including further indicators from other sources outside the WQP which have acceptable to good results for TRR in this study, such as "back posture", "ear lesions", "normal behavior" and "tail posture".

Are biters sick? Health status of tail biters in comparison to control pigs

BACKGROUND

Tail biting is a multifactorial problem. As the health status is one of the factors commonly linked to tail biting, this study focuses on the health of identified biters. 30 (obsessive) biters are compared to 30 control animals by clinical and pathological examination as well as blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples. In that way, altogether 174 variables are compared between the groups. Moreover, connections between the variables are analysed.

RESULTS

In the clinical examination, 6 biters, but only 2 controls (P = 0.019) were noticeably agitated in the evaluation of general behaviour, while 8 controls were noticeably calmer (2 biters, P = 0.02). Biters had a lower body weight (P = 0.0007) and 13 biters had overlong bristles (4 controls, P = 0.008). In the pathological examination, 5 biters, but none of the controls had a hyperceratosis or inflammation of the pars proventricularis of the stomach (P = 0.018). However, 7 controls and only 3 biters were affected by gut inflammation (P = 0.03). In the blood sample, protein and albumin levels were below normal range for biters (protein: 51.6 g/l, albumin: 25.4 g/l), but not for controls (protein: 53.7 g/l, albumin: 27.4 g/l), (protein: P = 0.05, albumin: P = 0.02). Moreover, 14 biters, but only 8 controls had poikilocytosis (P = 0.05). Although not statistically different between groups, many animals (36/60) were affected by hypoproteinemia and hyponatremia as well as by hypokalemia (53/60) and almost all animals (58/60) had hypomagnesemia. For hypomagnesemia, significant connections with variables linked to tail damage and ear necrosis were detected (r_s/V/ρ ≥ 0.4, P ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that behavioural tests might be helpful in identifying biters. Moreover, cornification and inflammation of the pars proventricularis is linked to becoming a biter. Furthermore, the results highlight the need for appropriate and adjusted nutrient and mineral supply, especially with regard to magnesium.

Comparison of the Current Situation of Equine Headshaking Syndrome in France and Switzerland Based on an Online Survey

Simple Summary

Headshaking syndrome is a frustrating health problem in horses whose aetiopathogenesis is poorly understood. This study was dedicated to investigating signalment and therapeutic interventions in headshakers in France and Switzerland. To do this, an online survey was developed and distributed via the Internet. This showed that mainly middle-aged geldings were affected. The breeding distribution matched the breeding distribution of the relevant country. Furthermore, alternative healing methods were used by the horse owners, which have not yet been scientifically examined. Overall, it was possible to formulate conclusions regarding signalment and therapies used in practice.

Abstract

Equine headshaking syndrome (EHS) is characterised as non-physical and involuntary movement of the horse’s head and neck. Although EHS is clinically simple to diagnose, its aetiopathogenesis often remains unclear. The aim of this study was to gain an overview of signalment and therapy possibilities used in France and Switzerland. To do this, an online survey was developed and distributed via newsletters. A total of 933 complete, answered surveys from France (n = 804) and Switzerland (n = 129) were evaluated. The median age in France was 12.4 years (CH = 14.3). Mostly geldings were affected (58.5%_FRA, 57.4%_CH). There was an association with Warmbloods in Switzerland (55.8%_CH), but in France, in addition to Warmbloods (34.4%_FRA), Thoroughbreds (27.2%_FRA) were also affected. Moreover, horses affected by EHS often show stereotypical behaviour (15.7%_FRA, 14.7%_CH). A total of 38.4%_FRA and 67.4%_CH of horse owners utilised therapy measures, with nose covers being most commonly used (19.9%_FRA, 30.2%_CH). Horse owners resorted to alternative treatments that had not previously been studied in context with EHS (15%_FRA, 20.9%_CH). Conservative treatments, such as medication, were used by 5.4%_CH and 1.9%_FRA. This study provides an overview of the status of horses affected by EHS in France and Switzerland and thus offers a fundamental step to understanding the consequences of welfare issues associated with EHS.

Application of Principal Component Analysis of Sows' Behavioral Indicators of the Welfare Quality® Protocol to Determine Main Components of Behavior

Understanding behavior is important in terms of welfare assessments to be able to evaluate possible changes in behavior among different husbandry systems. The present study applied principal component analysis (PCA) to reveal relationships between behavioral indicators to identify the main components of sows' behavior promoting feasibility of welfare assessments by providing possibilities for variable reduction and aggregation. The indicators of the Welfare Quality® protocol's principle to assess behavior were repeatedly applied by two observers on 13 farms in Northern Germany. This included Qualitative Behavior Assessments (QBA) to evaluate animals' body language using 20 pre-defined adjectives, assessments of social and exploratory behavior, stereotypies, and human–animal relationship tests. Two separate PCA were performed with respect to the QBA: (1) adjectives were included as independent variables and (2) adjectives were pre-aggregated using the calculation rules of the Welfare Quality® protocol for fattening pigs since a calculation for sows does not yet exist. In both analyses, two components described sows' behavior. Most variance was explained by the solution with adjectives as independent variables (51.0%). Other behavioral elements not captured as indicators by the protocol may still be important for all-inclusive welfare assessments as the required variance of 70% was not achieved in the analyses. Component loadings were used to determine components' labels as (1) “satisfaction of exploratory behavior” and (2) “social resting”. Both components reflected characteristics of sows' natural behavior and can subsequently be used for variable reduction but also for development of component scores for aggregation. As defined for PCA, component 1 explained more variance than component 2. PCA is useful to determine the main components of sows' behavior, which can be used to enhance feasibility of welfare assessments.

Evaluation of consistency over time of the use of the Animal Welfare Indicators protocol for horses

Consistency over time is a basic requirement for welfare assessment schemes since consistency must not depend, for example, on the day it is carried out. This study analysed the consistency of the indicators of the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) protocol for horses (Equus caballus) over time. Given the multi-dimensionality of animal welfare, the AWIN protocol includes a variety of indicators evaluating, eg the health status or the behaviour of the animals. Fourteen establishments keeping horses in Germany were visited four times each (day 0, day 3, day 42, day 90). For the evaluation of reliability and agreement between the different visits, ie across time, the reference visit on day 0 was compared to the other visits via calculation of Spearman's rank correlation (RS), intra-class correlation (ICC), smallest detectable change (SDC) and limits of agreement (LoA). The indicator, Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) was analysed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Most of the indicators demonstrated sufficient consistency over time. Indicators that were inconsistent included parts of the Horse Grimace Scale, outcomes of behavioural tests, the presence of swollen joints as well as the indicators hoof neglect, alopecia on the legs and water cleanliness. The QBA was consistent for the period of 42 days, but not for 90 days. Overall, those indicators with insufficient consistency over time require to be revised or replaced in future welfare assessment schemes.

Feasibility and reliability of a German guideline for farm's self-monitoring in sows and piglets

The present study's aim was to test a German guideline for farm's self-monitoring in sows and piglets for its feasibility as well as its interobserver and test-retest reliability. The study was performed between September 2016 and April 2018 on 13 farrowing farms in Northern Germany. Contrary to the guideline, the testing was not carried out by the farmers themselves but by 2 observers with experience in pigs representing common farmers. For the interobserver reliability study, the observers performed 20 joint farm visits independently assessing the same animals. For the test-retest reliability study, each farm was visited 5 times by 1 observer (day 0, day 3, week 7, month 5, month 10). Farm visit 1 (day 0) was used as reference and compared with the remaining farm visits. The reliability was evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (RS), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and limits of agreement (LoA). As results, the guideline's feasibility was limited. The indicators' reliability also presented divergent results: All indicators in piglets revealed acceptable to good interobserver reliability (RS 0.64 to 0.77 ICC 0.33 to 0.48 LoA between the intervals -0.02 to 0.13 and -0.02 to 0.00). Contrarily, interobserver reliability was low for indicators in sows (e.g., claw alterations: RS -0.41 ICC 0.00 LoA -0.97 to 0.68). Overall acceptable test-retest reliability could be assigned to all indicators although no exact agreement existed but only the pursuit of trends is indicated. On the basis of the present results, the guideline in its present form cannot be recommended for farms' self-monitoring. Given the restricted applicability, it should be reconsidered whether it might not be more appropriate to use scientifically tested and generally accepted animal welfare assessment systems such as the Welfare Quality animal welfare assessment protocols, although their application is also time-consuming.

Can Tail and Ear Postures Be Suitable to Capture the Affective State of Growing Pigs?

The present study examined whether tail and ear postures in fattening pigs (n = 228) housed in different environments could be suitable for assessing their affective state. In doing so, it investigated the appearance of curled-up, hanging, raised, tucked-under or wagging tails, respectively, ears directed forward, backward, mixed, and laterally. The environments included a barren and two enriched habitats that offered straw-bedded pens and soil-based rooting areas for the pigs. The tail and ear postures were analyzed using the scan sampling method. At the end of fattening, the pigs in the barren environment showed significantly fewer curled-up tails than those in the enriched environment. The barren-housed pigs showed also more raised, respectively, wagging tails than the enriched-housed pigs. Particularly at the end of fattening, there were no differences concerning the ears directed forward between the two environments and significantly fewer ears directed laterally were observed in the barren than in the enriched environment. Primarily, the curled-up tails could be suitable for indicating the affective state of the fattening pigs whereas the other tail, respectively, ear postures seemed to be less suitable to represent their affective state.

A life cycle assessment study of dairy farms in northern Germany: The influence of performance parameters on environmental efficiency

Recently, consumers concerns towards an environmental friendly food production are growing. The dairy sector contributes to the production of important greenhouse gases such as methane. The life cycle assessment (LCA) method enables to quantify the emissions and the use of resources throughout the entire life cycle of a product. The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of performance parameters on the level of important environmental impacts (global warming potential (GWP), freshwater eutrophication (FE), terrestrial acidification (TA) and agricultural land occupation (ALO)) associated with milk production. Therein, the environmental impacts were analyzed using LCA considering two separate datasets (total, continuous) from Northern German farms throughout the years 2004-2013. Therefore, the performance parameters determining the level of environmental impacts were identified using the partial least square method. Thereby, a differentiated analysis among regions with various soil characteristics (Heath, Hill, Marsh) was conducted additionally. Further, linear mixed models were applied to each of the environmental impact categories. Energy-corrected milk yield (ECM), ECM from roughage, feed efficiency and the use of concentrates were identified as the most important determinants of environmental impacts. In general, an increase in productivity, especially an increase in ECM per cow and an increase in the amount of ECM produced per area of agricultural land accompanied with an improvement in environmental efficiency. The type of feed used had the major impact on the level of environmental impacts, whereby both concentrates and roughage had disadvantages. These results were in line with previous studies. Although, this study provides additional information relating the most important determinants of different environmental impacts, including a differentiated consideration of the relationship between performance parameters and environmental efficiency among regions. Further analyses on specific soil characteristics and their impact on environmental efficiency are recommended. In line with the concept of eco-efficiency, useful mitigation strategies in practice need to be applied depending on individual framework conditions.

"HerdGPS-Preprocessor"-A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses

Sensors delivering information on the position of farm animals have been widely used in precision livestock farming. Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors are already known from applications in military, private and commercial environments, and their application in animal science is increasing. However, as trade-offs between sensor cost, battery life and sensor weight have to be made, GPS based studies scheduling long data collection periods and including a high number of animals, have to deal with problems like high hardware costs and data disruption during recharging of sensors. Furthermore, human-animal interaction due to sensor changing at the end of battery life interferes with the animal behaviour under analysis. The present study thus proposes a setting to deal with these challenges and offers the software tool "HerdGPS-Preprocessor", because collecting position data from multiple animals nonstop for several weeks produces a high amount of raw data which needs to be sorted, preprocessed and provided in a suitable format per animal and day. The software tool "HerdGPS-Preprocessor" additionally outputs contact lists to enable a straight analysis of animal contacts. The software tool was exemplarily deployed for one month of daily and continuous GPS data of 40 horses in a loose-housing boarding facility in northern Germany. Contact lists were used to generate separate networks for every hour, which are then analysed with regard to the network parameter density, diameter and clique structure. Differences depending on the day and the day time could be observed. More dense networks with more and larger cliques were determined in the hours prior to the opening of additional pasture.

Distances Walked by Long Established and Newcomer Horses in an Open Stable System in Northern Germany

Group housing is claimed to possibly provide horses with a species-appropriate movement possibility, and hence, better welfare. Thus, this study analyzed the daily walked distances of 51 horses held in one group in a "HIT Active Stable" (Hinrichs Innovation + Technik) in Northern Germany by using global positioning system (GPS) technology during a 7 ½-month time span. The daily walking distances of the whole group, as well as newcomers, were investigated. The horses traveled an average of 8.43 km/day. Linear mixed models were applied. The observation day had a significant effect on the daily walking distances (P < .01) due to season and the available area per horse. The age as covariate also had a significant effect (P < .01). The breed had no significant effect (P = .96). No significant differences were found in sex (P = .69), which can be explained by the fact that only mares and geldings were investigated, which do not show increasing locomotion caused by sexual behavior as stallions do. On six of the first nine days, new horses moved significantly more compared to the remaining 24 of the 30 observation days directly after individuals' inclusion. This is probably due to more exploration and rank-fighting behavior. Similar walking distances were seen among the horses on the single observation days because all horses had to travel the same distance to reach resources. Further, it is suspected that not all horses can sufficiently live out their urges to move, especially in winter, when pasture is inaccessible.

Interobserver reliability of measures of the Welfare Quality® animal welfare assessment protocol for sows and piglets

The aim of this study was to assess the interobserver reliability of the measures forming the Welfare Quality® animal welfare assessment protocol for sows and piglets. The study was carried out at nine farms in Northern Germany. Two trained observers evaluated identical animals simultaneously but independently in 40 joint farm visits. Interobserver reliability was calculated at individual animal level using Cohen's kappa, weighted kappa and the prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) and at farm level using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (RS), the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), smallest detectable change (SDC) and limits of agreement (LoA). While a direct comparison of the adjectives of the qualitative behaviour assessment showed poor interobserver reliability, a Principal Component Analysis detected good interobserver reliability. The assessment of social and exploratory behaviours showed acceptable interobserver reliability, while the assessment of stereotypies displayed good interobserver reliability. The human-animal relationship test showed only poor interobserver reliability at individual animal and farm levels. In most cases, measures of health and physical state assessed in sows and piglets exhibited acceptable or good interobserver reliability. In conclusion, after some measures are revised, particularly those examining the human-animal relationship, the Welfare Quality® protocol for sows and piglets will represent a reliable approach in terms of interobserver reliability to assess the welfare of sows and piglets.

Investigation of influence of growing pigs' positive affective state on behavioral and physiological parameters using structural equation modeling

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the primarily positive affective state of fattening pigs influences various behavioral and physiological parameters such as the pigs' playing behavior, way of behaving in behavioral tests, body language signals, or diameter, and astroglia cell numbers of hippocampi, salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) content, or salivary protein composition. Additionally, the suitability of the variables mentioned was examined to assess the pigs' positive affective state in practice, which still constitutes a latent variable not itself measurable. For this, a dataset including behavioral and physiological data of 60 fattening pigs from 3 different farms with different housing systems was analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method. A hierarchical component model (HCM) was used including the pigs' positive affective state as a higher-order component (HOC) and the behavioral and physiological parameters as lower-order components (LOC). Playing behavior, body language signals, and behavioral tests were revealed, in this order, to be most influenced by the pigs' positive affective state since these resulted in the corresponding path coefficients (PC) of PC = 0.83, PC = 0.79, and PC = 0.62, respectively. Additionally moderate and weak R2-values occurred for the endogenous latent variables playing behavior (R2 = 69.8%), body language signals (R2 = 62.7%), and behavioral tests (R2 = 39.5%). Furthermore, the indicator of the "locomotor play" showed the highest indicator reliability (IR) (IR = 0.85) to estimate the latent variable of pigs' positive affective state. The results of the present study supplement the comprehension and assessment of the pigs' positive affective state in general.

Agonistic Interactions in Pigs-Comparison of Dominance Indices with Parameters Derived from Social Network Analysis in Three Age Groups

Dominance indices are often calculated using the number of won and lost fights of each animal focusing on dyadic interactions. Social network analysis provides new insights into the establishment of stable group structures going beyond the dyadic approach. Thus, it was investigated whether centrality parameters describing the importance of each animal for the network are able to capture the rank order calculated by dominance indices. Therefore, two dominance indices and five centrality parameters based on two network types (initiator-receiver and winner-loser networks) were calculated regarding agonistic interactions observed in three mixing events (weaned piglets, fattening pigs, gilts). Comparing the two network types, the winner-loser networks demonstrated highly positive correlation coefficients between out-degree and outgoing closeness and the dominance indices. These results were confirmed by partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), i.e., about 60% of the variance of the dominance could be explained by the centrality parameters, whereby the winner-loser networks could better illustrate the dominance hierarchy with path coefficients of about 1.1 for all age groups. Thus, centrality parameters can portray the dominance hierarchy providing more detailed insights into group structure which goes beyond the dyadic approach.

Impact of Significant Dyads on Dominance Indices in Pigs

Dominance indices are calculated by considering the differences between the number of won and lost fights. Whether these differences show a significant asymmetric outcome or not is neglected. Thus, two calculation methods for the limits of significant dyads are proposed using a sign test based on the differences in won and lost fights, considering all dyadic interactions in the pen (PEN: pen individual limits), and a sign test focusing on each individual dyad (DYAD: dyad individual limits). These were compared to the data set containing all dyadic interactions (ALL). Agonistic interactions in three mixing events were video recorded for two and a half days (weaned piglets) or one and a half days (fattening pigs, gilts). Dominance indices (DI) were calculated for all data sets. Pen/dyad individual limits revealed a small number of significant dyads (weaned piglets: 12.4%/8.8%; fattening pigs: 4.2%/0.6%; gilts: 3.6%/0.4%). Pen individual limits should be selected as they allow adaption of the limits according to the fighting frequency. Spearman rank correlation coefficients of the dominance indices between the data sets were always above 0.7, implying that the rank order remained relatively stable. Information about the impact of significant dyads on sociometric measures is important to prevent misinterpretations about the social structure in animal groups and should be considered in future studies.

Are Behavioral Tests Capable of Measuring Positive Affective States in Growing Pigs?

Simple Summary

This study aimed at deriving potential indicators to assess fattening pigs’ positive affective state in order to be able to assess animal welfare more objectively. For this purpose, 297 fattening pigs from two different housing systems (a barren and an enriched environment) were subjected three times to the human approach test and novel object test (at the start, middle and end of fattening). The barren-housed pigs showed quicker approach latencies to come into contact with the unknown human and the novel object compared to the enriched-housed pigs (e.g., latency time in the human approach test at the end of fattening: barren housing system: 7.4 ± 1.1 s vs. enriched housing system: 57.1 ± 1.1 s, respectively 58.3 ± 1.3 s). They also indicated longer durations of contact in the human approach test but not in the novel object test (e.g., duration of contact in the human approach test at the end of fattening: barren housing system: 83.8 ± 1.1 s vs. enriched housing system: 6.3 ± 1.1 s respectively, 7.6 ± 1.3 s). However, taking the literature into account, interpretation of these results is not straightforward as the reasoning for these findings could be boredom, and thus a higher motivation to explore, or less fear. Hence, behavioral tests as solitary indicators are probably less useful in the assessment of an affective state.

Abstract

This study examined whether the human approach test (HAT) or novel object test (NOT), which are considered as suitable tests for assessing the level of fear or anxiety in animals, are suitable to detect a positive affective state in 297 fattening pigs from three different farms. The investigated farms consisted of a barren (farm 1, n = 160) and an enriched (farm 2, n = 106; farm 3, n = 31) husbandry. Each pig was subjected three times to the HAT and NOT during fattening (at the start, middle, and end of fattening). The pigs housed in the barren environment showed quicker approach latencies than the enriched-housed pigs (HAT: farm 1: 7.4 ± 1.1 s vs. farm 2: 57.1 ± 1.1 s, respectively, farm 3: 58.3 ± 1.3 s (end of fattening); NOT: farm 1: 4.5 ± 1.1 s vs. farm 2: 23.0 ± 1.1 s, respectively, farm 3: 9.0 ± 1.2 s (end of fattening)). The same pattern of behavior was observed for the duration of contacts in the HAT but not in the NOT (HAT: farm 1: 83.8 ± 1.1 s vs. farm 2: 6.3 ± 1.1 s, respectively, farm 3: 7.6 ± 1.3 s (end of fattening)). However, due to controversially discussed literature, it is difficult to conclude whether the described differences in the pigs’ behavior between the two housing systems might indicate useful indicators to detect their affective state.

Test-retest reliability of the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for pigs applied to sows and piglets. Part 2. Assessment of the principles good feeding, good housing, and good health1

The present study aimed at testing the feasibility and on-farm test-retest reliability of the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for pigs applied to sows and piglets. The study was conducted on 13 farms in Northern Germany, which were visited 5 times by the same observer, and included 2 experimental setups: first, the complete Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for sows and piglets was applied to the farms. Second, additional assessments in the gestation unit considered all sows. The complete protocol assessments were used to evaluate the feasibility of the protocol. Furthermore, the data were analyzed with regard to on-farm test-retest reliability. The present publication focuses on the Welfare Quality principles good feeding, good housing, and good health, which are based on individual indicators (IN). The second experimental setup was utilized to verify the test-retest reliability of IN in the gestation unit with an increased number of animals under assessment. The test-retest reliability was calculated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (RS), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), smallest detectable change (SDC), and limits of agreement (LoA). Farm visit 1 (F1; day 0) was set as a reference and compared with farm visits 2 to 5 (F2 to 5; day 3, week 7, month 5, month 10). The IN of the above-named Welfare Quality principles achieved mostly acceptable test-retest reliability (e.g., wounds on the body F1 to F4: RS 0.34 to 0.57, ICC 0.40 to 0.41, SDC 0.02 to 0.12, LoA [-0.03; 0.02] to [-0.09; 0.14]) in terms of the on-farm test-retest reliability. Poor test-retest reliability was detected for body condition score concerning the principle good feeding, for bursitis and panting in sows and for huddling and panting in piglets within the principle good housing, and finally for vulva lesions, metritis, and local infections in sows and for scouring and lameness in piglets in the principle good health. Variations among the farm visits, which resulted in poor test-retest reliability, may be explained by seasonal effects (panting), moving animals (bursitis, lameness, huddling), rare occurrences of diseases (metritis, local infections, scouring), and differently conditioned sow groups (body condition score). The second experimental setup confirmed the results for IN in the gestation unit. Thus, the reported test-retest reliability determines the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for sows and piglets to be a reliable approach to assess welfare in sows and piglets.

Interobserver Reliability of the Animal Welfare Indicators Welfare Assessment Protocol for Horses

Objective tools for the assessment of animal welfare are needed. The present study analyzed the interobserver reliability of the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for horses to further enhance knowledge concerning reliability. Therefore, two trained observers conducted 18 assessments on farm at the same time and on the same animals. The results were compared at individual level by calculation of Cohen's kappa (κ), weighted kappa (κ_w), and prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK). Spearman rank correlation coefficient (RS), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), limits of agreement (LoA), and smallest detectable change (SDC) were used at farm level. The Qualitative Behaviour Assessment was further analyzed by means of principal component analysis. At the individual level, most of the indicators demonstrated acceptable (κ, κ_w, PABAK ≥ 0.4) to good (κ, κ_w, PABAK ≥ 0.6) interobserver reliability. Also, at farm level, most of the indicators demonstrated acceptable (RS ≥ 0.4; ICC ≥ 0.4; SDC: ≤ 0.1; LoA ε [0.1; 0.1]) to good (RS: ≥ 0.7; ICC: ≥ 0.7; SDC: ≤ 0.05; LoA: ε [0.05; 0.05]) interobserver reliability. Exceptions were the indicators moderate presence of tension above eye area (score 1) and orbital tightening (score 1) on the Horse Grimace Scale, as well as the presence of swollen joints. Furthermore, the present results indicate that the details for the different scores should be improved for some indicators such as the Body Condition Score. In general, this study points out a good interobserver reliability of the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses.

Reliability of the qualitative behavior assessment as included in the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for growing pigs

Positive emotions constitute a very important part of animal welfare. They are, however, also the most challenging elements to be objectively measured. Due to its feasibility, the qualitative behavior assessment (QBA) is included in the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for growing pigs as the animal-based measurement tool for positive emotions. Reliability testing on the QBA in the form as included in the protocols is, however, rare. Therefore, the present study aimed at the evaluation of the inter- and intraobserver as well as test-retest reliability of the QBA in growing pigs. This was done by trained observers based on 19 joint on-farm assessments, the repeated assessments of 24 farms during 2 growing periods, and 107 video sequences. The results were compared between the observers and the repeated farm visits. Therefore, millimeter values were directly compared by calculation of Spearman's rank correlation coefficients (RS), and furthermore, the results were subjected to a principal component analysis (PCA). The results identified 2 main principal components (PC; PC1 and PC2) together explaining from 42 to 75% of the variation in the recorded variables of the different PCA. The factor loadings that the adjectives reached on PC1 and PC2 were compared by calculation of RS between observers and farm visits, respectively. Reliability was interpreted as acceptable if at least a moderate correlation was detected; that is, RS was greater than or equal to 0.4. Regarding the on-farm assessments, and, therefore, under practical conditions, no sufficient interobserver reliability (RS = -0.16 for PC1 and RS = 0.13 for PC2) was found. In terms of the test-retest reliability, only 1 comparison of 2 farm visits showed a positive correlation for PC1 (RS = 0.79) as well as for PC2 (RS = 0.64). The other 5 comparisons presented negative to weak positive correlations. However, based on video sequences, good interobserver (RS = 0.67 for PC1 and RS = 0.60 for PC2) and intraobserver (RS = 0.94 for PC1 and RS = 0.44 for PC2) reliability was achieved. Therefore, the present study revealed good reliability for the QBA in the form as it is currently included in the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for growing pigs based on video sequences but insufficient reliability for the application on the farm.

Interobserver reliability of the 'Welfare Quality(®) Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Growing Pigs'

The present paper focuses on evaluating the interobserver reliability of the 'Welfare Quality(®) Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Growing Pigs'. The protocol for growing pigs mainly consists of a Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA), direct behaviour observations (BO) carried out by instantaneous scan sampling and checks for different individual parameters (IP), e.g. presence of tail biting, wounds and bursitis. Three trained observers collected the data by performing 29 combined assessments, which were done at the same time and on the same animals; but they were carried out completely independent of each other. The findings were compared by the calculation of Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficients (RS), Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), Smallest Detectable Changes (SDC) and Limits of Agreements (LoA). There was no agreement found concerning the adjectives belonging to the QBA (e.g. active: RS: 0.50, ICC: 0.30, SDC: 0.38, LoA: -0.05 to 0.45; fearful: RS: 0.06, ICC: 0.0, SDC: 0.26, LoA: -0.20 to 0.30). In contrast, the BO showed good agreement (e.g. social behaviour: RS: 0.45, ICC: 0.50, SDC: 0.09, LoA: -0.09 to 0.03 use of enrichment material: RS: 0.75, ICC: 0.68, SDC: 0.06, LoA: -0.03 to 0.03). Overall, observers agreed well in the IP, e.g. tail biting (RS: 0.52, ICC: 0.88; SDC: 0.05, LoA: -0.01 to 0.02) and wounds (RS: 0.43, ICC: 0.59, SDC: 0.10, LoA: -0.09 to 0.10). The parameter bursitis showed great differences (RS: 0.10, ICC: 0.0, SDC: 0.35, LoA: -0.37 to 0.40), which can be explained by difficulties in the assessment when the animals moved around quickly or their legs were soiled. In conclusion, the interobserver reliability was good in the BO and most IP, but not for the parameter bursitis and the QBA.

Review of the assessment of animal welfare with special emphasis on the "Welfare Quality^® animal welfare assessment protocol for growing pigs"

Abstract. This paper discusses the arising need for an objective, but feasible, reliable and valid method for assessing animal welfare on farms. Animal welfare has become especially important since the industrialisation of animal housing after the Second World War and as public awareness and concern has increased. Simultaneously, alienation of the public from agriculture has taken place, as the population has moved increasingly from rural areas to towns. This has led to a very emotional discussion concerning the welfare of farmed animals, and thus a need for not only a clear definition but also a way of objectively measuring it has arisen. It is probably best defined as a total of the different conceptions health, natural behaviour and positive affective state. In the last few years, different methods for an objective assessment have been developed; however, all of them still face great challenges in their practical implementation and acceptance. The most promising method is probably the Welfare Quality® (WQ) approach, especially as it concentrates on animal-based parameters. The development of the WQ protocols emphasised not only the different conceptions of animal welfare but also especially the feasibility, reliability and validity of the parameters to be included. One of the main challenges of these protocols remains, however, the final aggregation of the results to a welfare score. Furthermore, a thorough cost–benefit analysis has not been carried out so far. Even more importantly, only a few studies have addressed the general reliability and validity of the complete protocols, and those studies that have addressed these issues have also revealed challenges concerning the interobserver and test–retest reliability of some of the included parameters. As an example, this is discussed in detail for the "Welfare Quality® animal welfare assessment protocol for growing pigs". In conclusion, the WQ approach can be seen as promising, but it has also revealed that there are still a considerable number of challenges that need to be addressed in further studies on the WQ protocols in order to achieve constant improvement. These challenges should be borne in mind in the application of these protocols, which should not be simply referred to as a gold standard.

Social network analysis - centrality parameters and individual network positions of agonistic behavior in pigs over three different age levels

Knowledge of the network structure of agonistic interactions helps to understand the formation and the development of aggressive behavior. Therefore, video observation data of 149 pigs over three different age levels were investigated for 2 days each directly after mixing (65 groups in the rearing area, 24 groups in the growing stable and 12 groups in the breeding stable). The aim of the study was to use network analysis to investigate the development of individual network positions of specific animals and to determine whether centrality parameters in previous mixing situations have an impact on the future behavior of the animals. The results of the weighted degree centrality indicated that weaned pigs had a higher fighting intensity directly after mixing compared to growing pigs and gilts. Also, the number of different opponents (degree centrality) was higher compared to the older age groups. The betweenness centrality showed relatively small values and no significant differences between the different age levels, whereas the closeness centrality showed high values at all observed age levels. Experiences gained in previous agonistic interactions had an impact on the centrality parameters in subsequent mixing situations. It was shown that the position of individual animals in agonistic interaction networks can be characterized using social network analysis and that changes over different age levels can be detected. Therefore, social network analysis provides insights into the formation and evolution of behavioral patterns which could be of particular interest for the identification of key factors with regard to abnormal behavior (e.g. tail biting).