8 results
Development and testing of an on-farm welfare assessment protocol for dairy goats
- K Muri, SM Stubsjøen, PS Valle
-
- Journal:
- Animal Welfare / Volume 22 / Issue 3 / August 2013
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 January 2023, pp. 385-400
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
To ensure that farm animal welfare issues are identified and addressed appropriately, there is a need for robust on-farm welfare assessment protocols. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive welfare assessment protocol for dairy goats (Capra hircus) and its testing on 30 commercial dairy goat farms in Norway. The protocol combines animal-based welfare indicators with measures of husbandry provisions to enable the identification of welfare problems and challenges inherent to the production system. The study also includes a first report of group level qualitative behavioural assessments (QBA) of goats. Due to reliability and validity issues related to behavioural assessments of human-animal interactions, indices of stockperson attitudes were incorporated as a complementary assessment of stockmanship. The most prevalent physical conditions observed were ocular discharge, skin lesions, udder asymmetry, calluses on knees and hocks, and overgrown claws. Moreover, fear levels appeared to be of particular concern in some herds. Significant associations were found between qualitative behavioural assessments and measures of health and stockmanship. Floor type was associated with four animal-based welfare outcomes. Reliability and validity of goat welfare indicators need to be further tested, and intervention plans and thresholds need to be determined so that advice can be tailored to the specific problems identified on each farm. We conclude that the protocol can work as a tool to identify welfare issues in dairy goat herds, and that this study may be a valuable contribution to the development of a much-needed welfare assessment protocol for dairy goats.
Human-animal relationships in the Norwegian dairy goat industry: assessment of pain and provision of veterinary treatment (Part II)
- K Muri, PS Valle
-
- Journal:
- Animal Welfare / Volume 21 / Issue 4 / November 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 January 2023, pp. 547-558
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Stockpeoples’ ability to recognise pain in their livestock, and to respond appropriately, is of utmost importance for animal welfare. Assessment of pain is complex, and attitudes and empathy are thought to play a role in peoples’ responses to the sight of pain. In a separate paper we investigated the dimensionality of Norwegian dairy goat stockpeoples’ goat-oriented attitudes and empathy. This paper investigates how the stockpeople assess and manage pain and disease in goats. The interrelationships between pain perception and provision of veterinary attention were explored, as well as how these two measures are associated with demographics, attitudes and empathy. Pain assessment scores for individual conditions ranged across most of the picture-based pain assessment scale. Dystocia, gangrenous mastitis and the neurological form of caprine arthritis encephalitis were considered most painful. Linear regression showed that one attitude dimension was positively associated with mean pain assessment score (mPAS), while growing up on a goat farm, having farming as main income and having seen a large number of the conditions were negatively associated with mPAS. Cluster analysis on reported frequency of contacting veterinary surgeons for ten conditions revealed two distinct groups of stock-people. Logistic regression showed that females, older stockpeople and stockpeople who grew up in a rural district were significantly more likely to be in the group that more frequently contacted veterinary surgeons. We conclude that training of stockpeople needs to focus on evaluation and management of pain to ensure a high standard of animal welfare.
Human-animal relationships in the Norwegian dairy goat industry: attitudes and empathy towards goats (Part I)
- K Muri, PA Tufte, E Skjerve, PS Valle
-
- Journal:
- Animal Welfare / Volume 21 / Issue 4 / November 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 January 2023, pp. 535-545
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
The quality of human-animal relationships in the livestock industries has been increasingly recognised as an important determinant of animal welfare. Attitudes and empathy are multi-dimensional traits that may be associated with the stockpersons’ behaviour. The aim of this study was to determine the dimensionality of the goat-oriented attitudes and empathy of stockpeople in the Norwegian dairy goat industry. We also explored how empathic and attitudinal dimensions are interrelated, and how the demographic background variables may predict empathy and attitudes. A total of 260 dairy goat farmers participated in the study, by the means of either postal or internet-based questionnaire formats. Multi-item rating scales were developed specifically for the assessment of attitudes and empathy towards goats, and Principal Component Factor Analysis was conducted to determine the dimensionality of the farmers’ goat-oriented attitudes and empathy. Subsequently, linear and ordinal regression analyses were performed to explore the interrelationships. The analyses revealed dimensions of empathy that can be recognised from studies of human-oriented empathy, and attitude dimensions that can be interpreted similarly as dimensions described in studies from other livestock industries. Our results show that different dimensions of attitudes and empathy were associated with different demographic variables, and that each empathy dimension was associated with a different attitude factor.
Inter-observer reliability of Qualitative Behavioural Assessments (QBA) of housed sheep in Norway using fixed lists of descriptors
- K Muri, SM Stubsjøen
-
- Journal:
- Animal Welfare / Volume 26 / Issue 4 / November 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 January 2023, pp. 427-435
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) is a whole-animal approach used to quantify the expressive style of animals’ behaviour. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-observer reliability of principal components and individual descriptors from QBA of housed sheep in Norway using a fixed list of descriptors. In part 1, eight animal welfare inspectors from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority scored 12 two-minute video clips, using 12 pre-defined terms. In the second part, three of these observers visited ten sheep farms and scored the behaviour using a modified list of eight terms. The scores for all assessors within each part were analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The level of agreement for the first two components and for individual terms was assessed using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W). In part 1, only seven observers were assessed for reliability of principal components due to missing data, and for these observers the agreement was high for PC1 and moderate for PC2. For the sub-group of three inspectors that also participated in part 2, the reliability was high for both components. In the on-farm assessments in part 2, these three observers obtained only moderate agreement for PC1 and low agreement for PC2. Results illustrate that good reliability can be achieved with QBA for housed sheep using videos, but that equally satisfactory reliability is more difficult to obtain using the method on-farm. The result in part 2 may be related to less-controlled circumstances concerning exactly what the observers see when sheep are kept indoors with high stocking densities, observer drift, and limited between-farm variation, which is a challenge for many types of reliability studies in field conditions.
Invited review: Improving neonatal survival in small ruminants: science into practice
- C. M. Dwyer, J. Conington, F. Corbiere, I. H. Holmøy, K. Muri, R. Nowak, J. Rooke, J. Vipond, J.-M. Gautier
-
- Article
-
- You have access Access
- HTML
- Export citation
-
Neonatal mortality in small ruminant livestock has remained stubbornly unchanging over the past 40 years, and represents a significant loss of farm income, contributes to wastage and affects animal welfare. Scientific knowledge about the biology of neonatal adaptation after birth has been accumulating but does not appear to have had an impact in improving survival. In this paper, we ask what might be the reasons for the lack of impact of the scientific studies of lamb and kid mortality, and suggest strategies to move forward. Biologically, it is clear that achieving a good intake of colostrum, as soon as possible after birth, is crucial for neonatal survival. This provides fuel for thermoregulation, passive immunological protection and is involved in the development of attachment between the ewe and lamb. The behaviour of the lamb in finding the udder and sucking rapidly after birth is a key component in ensuring sufficient colostrum is ingested. In experimental studies, the main risk factors for lamb mortality are low birthweight, particularly owing to poor maternal nutrition during gestation, birth difficulty, litter size and genetics, which can all be partly attributed to their effect on the speed with which the lamb reaches the udder and sucks. Similarly, on commercial farms, low birthweight and issues with sucking were identified as important contributors to mortality. In epidemiological studies, management factors such as providing assistance with difficult births, were found to be more important than risk factors associated with housing. Social science studies suggest that farmers generally have a positive attitude to improving neonatal mortality but may differ in beliefs about how this can be achieved, with some farmers believing they had no control over early lamb mortality. Facilitative approaches, where farmers and advisors work together to develop neonatal survival strategies, have been shown to be effective in achieving management goals, such as optimising ewe nutrition, that lead to reductions in lamb mortality. We conclude that scientific research is providing useful information on the biology underpinning neonatal survival, such as optimal birthweights, lamb vigour and understanding the importance of sufficient colostrum intake, but the transfer of that knowledge would benefit from an improved understanding of the psychology of management change on farm. Developing tailored solutions, on the basis of adequate farm records, that make use of the now substantial body of scientific literature on neonatal mortality will help to achieve lower neonatal mortality.
Welfare effects of a disease eradication programme for dairy goats
- K. Muri, N. Leine, P. S. Valle
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
The Norwegian dairy goat industry has largely succeeded in controlling caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE), caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) and paratuberculosis through a voluntary disease eradication programme called Healthier Goats (HG). The aim of this study was to apply an on-farm welfare assessment protocol to assess the effects of HG on goat welfare. A total of 30 dairy goat farms were visited, of which 15 had completed disease eradication and 15 had not yet started. Three trained observers assessed the welfare on 10 farms each. The welfare assessment protocol comprised both resource-based and animal-based welfare measures, including a preliminary version of qualitative behavioural assessments with five prefixed terms. A total of 20 goats in each herd were randomly selected for observations of human–animal interactions and physical health. The latter included registering abnormalities of eyes, nostrils, ears, skin, lymph nodes, joints, udder, claws and body condition score. For individual-level data, robust clustered logistic regression analyses with farm as cluster variable were conducted to assess the association with disease eradication. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used for comparisons of herd-level data between the two groups. Goats with swollen joints (indicative of CAE) and enlarged lymph nodes (indicative of CLA) were registered on 53% and 93% of the non-HG farms, respectively, but on none of the HG farms. The only other health variables with significantly lower levels in HG herds were skin lesions (P=0.008) and damaged ears due to torn out ear tags (P<0.001). Goats on HG farms showed less fear of unknown humans (P=0.013), and the qualitative behavioural assessments indicated that the animals in these herds were calmer than in non-HG herds. Significantly more space and lower gas concentrations reflected the upgrading of buildings usually done on HG farms. In conclusion, HG has resulted in some welfare improvements beyond the elimination of infectious diseases. The protocol was considered a useful tool to evaluate the welfare consequences of a disease eradication programme. However, larger sample sizes would increase the reliability of prevalence estimates for less common conditions and increase the power to detect differences between the groups. Despite the obvious link between disease and suffering, this aspect is rarely taken into account in the evaluation of disease control programmes. We therefore propose that welfare assessment protocols should be applied to evaluate the merits of disease control or eradication programmes in terms of animal welfare.
Contributors
-
- By Nicholas P. Allan, Adrian Angold, Caroline L. Bokhorst, Sam Cartwright-Hatton, Peter Cooper, William Copeland, E. Jane Costello, Cathy Creswell, Helen L. Egger, Thalia C. Eley, Alaattin Erkanli, Andy P. Field, Antonio Castro Fonseca, Alice M. Gregory, Julie A. Hadwin, Annette M. La Greca, Ryan R. Landoll, Kathryn J. Lester, Christopher J. Lonigan, Heidi J. Lyneham, Katharina Manassis, Luci M. Motoca, Peter Muris, Lynne Murray, Laurel Pelligrino, Sean Perrin, Beth M. Phillips, Courtney Pierce, Daniel S. Pine, Helena M. Purkis, Ron M. Rapee, Shirley Reynolds, Wendy K. Silverman, Patrick Smith, James Stacey, Philip D. A. Treffers, John T. Walkup, P. Michiel Westenberg, Charlotte Wilson, Shauna B. Wilson, William Yule
- Edited by Wendy K. Silverman, Florida International University, Andy P. Field, University of Sussex
-
- Book:
- Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents
- Published online:
- 07 September 2011
- Print publication:
- 25 August 2011, pp ix-xii
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Contributors
-
- By Jane E. Adcock, Yahya Aghakhani, A. Anand, Eva Andermann, Frederick Andermann, Alexis Arzimanoglou, Sandrine Aubert, Nadia Bahi-Buisson, Carman Barba, Agatino Battaglia, Geneviève Bernard, Nadir E. Bharucha, Laurence A. Bindoff, William Bingaman, Francesca Bisulli, Thomas P. Bleck, Stewart G. Boyd, Andreas Brunklaus, Harry Bulstrode, Jorge G. Burneo, Laura Canafoglia, Laura Cantonetti, Roberto H. Caraballo, Fernando Cendes, Kevin E. Chapman, Patrick Chauvel, Richard F. M. Chin, H. T. Chong, Fahmida A. Chowdhury, Catherine J. Chu-Shore, Rolando Cimaz, Andrew J. Cole, Bernard Dan, Geoffrey Dean, Alessio De Ciantis, Fernando De Paolis, Rolando F. Del Maestro, Irissa M. Devine, Carlo Di Bonaventura, Concezio Di Rocco, Henry B. Dinsdale, Maria Alice Donati, François Dubeau, Michael Duchowny, Olivier Dulac, Monika Eisermann, Brent Elliott, Bernt A. Engelsen, Kevin Farrell, Natalio Fejerman, Rosalie E. Ferner, Silvana Franceschetti, Robert Friedlander, Antonio Gambardella, Hector H. Garcia, Serena Gasperini, Lorenzo Genitori, Gioia Gioi, Flavio Giordano, Leif Gjerstad, Daniel G. Glaze, Howard P. Goodkin, Sidney M. Gospe, Andrea Grassi, William P. Gray, Renzo Guerrini, Marie-Christine Guiot, William Harkness, Andrew G. Herzog, Linda Huh, Margaret J. Jackson, Thomas S. Jacques, Anna C. Jansen, Sigmund Jenssen, Michael R. Johnson, Dorothy Jones-Davis, Reetta Kälviäinen, Peter W. Kaplan, John F. Kerrigan, Autumn Marie Klein, Matthias Koepp, Edwin H. Kolodny, Kandan Kulandaivel, Ruben I. Kuzniecky, Ahmed Lary, Yolanda Lau, Anna-Elina Lehesjoki, Maria K. Lehtinen, Holger Lerche, Michael P. T. Lunn, Snezana Maljevic, Mark R. Manford, Carla Marini, Bindu Menon, Giulia Milioli, Eli M. Mizrahi, Manish Modi, Márcia Elisabete Morita, Manuel Murie-Fernandez, Vivek Nambiar, Lina Nashef, Vincent Navarro, Aidan Neligan, Ruth E. Nemire, Charles R. J. C. Newton, John O'Donavan, Hirokazu Oguni, Teiichi Onuma, Andre Palmini, Eleni Panagiotakaki, Pasquale Parisi, Elena Parrini, Liborio Parrino, Ignacio Pascual-Castroviejo, M. Scott Perry, Perrine Plouin, Charles E. Polkey, Suresh S. Pujar, Karthik Rajasekaran, R. Eugene Ramsey, Rahul Rathakrishnan, Roberta H. Raven, Guy M. Rémillard, David Rosenblatt, M. Elizabeth Ross, Abdulrahman Sabbagh, P. Satishchandra, Swati Sathe, Ingrid E. Scheffer, Philip A. Schwartzkroin, Rod C. Scott, Frédéric Sedel, Michelle J. Shapiro, Elliott H. Sherr, Michael Shevell, Simon D. Shorvon, Adrian M. Siegel, Gagandeep Singh, S. Sinha, Barbara Spacca, Waney Squier, Carl E. Stafstrom, Bernhard J. Steinhoff, Andrea Taddio, Gianpiero Tamburrini, C. T. Tan, Raymond Y. L. Tan, Erik Taubøll, Robert W. Teasell, Mario Giovanni Terzano, Federica Teutonico, Suzanne A. Tharin, Elizabeth A. Thiele, Pierre Thomas, Paolo Tinuper, Dorothée Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenité, Sumeet Vadera, Pierangelo Veggiotti, Jean-Pierre Vignal, J. M. Walshe, Elizabeth J. Waterhouse, David Watkins, Ruth E. Williams, Yue-Hua Zhang, Benjamin Zifkin, Sameer M. Zuberi
- Edited by Simon D. Shorvon, Frederick Andermann, Renzo Guerrini
-
- Book:
- The Causes of Epilepsy
- Published online:
- 05 March 2012
- Print publication:
- 14 April 2011, pp ix-xvi
-
- Chapter
- Export citation