To better understand how relevant intensive systems’ characteristics simultaneously affect the performance and welfare of broiler chickens, a meta-analysis of recent literature was carried out. The ...study determined the effects of gender, genetics, experimental initial age (EIA, d), stocking density (SD; kg/m2), group size (GS; n), bedding material (yes/no), duration of photoperiod (DP; h), divided scotoperiod (yes/no), feeding phases (1/2/3/>3), environmental control (EC; yes/no), environmental enrichment (yes/no), use of vaccines and other medications (yes/no), experimental duration (d), and relevant 2-way interactions on average daily gain (g/d), average daily feed intake (g/d), FCR (g: g), mortality (%), behavior (%), and gait score (mean value). Predictive equations for response variables were calculated using multiple regression models including a random experiment effect. Among other results, EIA × SD interaction indicated that relatively high SD may improve FCR at older ages, but parallel increased mortality would pose concerns about the actual productive benefits and welfare. Combining large GS and relatively low SD seem to improve performance and decrease flock disturbance. They would also increase leg problems, and so their actual benefits on welfare remain unclear. A gradual increase in FCR seems to occur with longer DP at older EIA (EIA × DP interaction), highlighting the importance of adapting light programs to flock age to optimize performance. The SD × DP and GS × DP interactions predicted increased FCR for longer DP at low SD or large GS, that is, with more effective space available. Longer DP combined with low SD or large GS would overall promote enhanced leg conditions, and therefore welfare. Predictions would not support scotoperiod division from both performance and welfare perspectives. The SD × EC interaction indicated that EC would benefit chicken performance at low SD, although EC would seem to increase leg problems. Our study highlights the complex, interactive nature of production systems’ characteristics on broiler chicken performance and welfare.
The pig industry faces many animal welfare issues. Among these, biting behaviour has a high incidence. It is indicative of an existing problem in biters and is a source of physical damage and ...psychological stress for the victims. We categorize this behaviour into aggressive and non-aggressive biting, the latter often being directed towards the tail. This review focusses specifically on predisposing factors in early life, comprising the prenatal and postnatal periods up to weaning, for the expression of aggressive and non-aggressive biting later in life. The influence of personality and coping style has been examined in a few studies. It varies according to these studies and, thus, further evaluation is needed. Regarding the effect of environmental factors, the number of scientific papers is low (less than five papers for most factors). No clear influence of prenatal factors has been identified to date. Aggressive biting is reduced by undernutrition, cross-fostering and socialization before weaning. Non-aggressive biting is increased by undernutrition, social stress due to competition and cross-fostering. These latter three factors are highly dependent on litter size at birth. The use of familiar odours may contribute to reducing biting when pigs are moved from one environment to another by alleviating the level of stress associated with novelty. Even though the current environment in which pigs are expressing biting behaviours is of major importance, the pre-weaning environment should be optimized to reduce the likelihood of this problem.
ABSTRACT
The potential of the transect method was tested for early detection of welfare problems associated with bird age and genetic line, litter quality, and transect location. On-farm welfare ...impairment and its consequences on slaughter outcomes were evaluated to test the method's predictive ability. A total of 31 commercial Ross, Cobb, and mixed RC broiler flocks were evaluated at 3, 5, and 6 wk of age. Two observers evaluated 3 transects each, simultaneously and in the same house by detecting welfare indicators including lame, immobile, sick, small, dirty, tail wounds, other wounds (head and back wounds), featherless, terminally ill, and dead birds. Increasing lame, immobile, sick, and terminally ill birds according to bird age (P < 0.001) was detected. Higher incidences of small and sick birds were detected in C and RC (P < 0.001) as compared to R flocks, whereas more dead and tail wounded were observed in RC compared to R and C flocks at week 5 (P < 0.001). Dirty incidence increased as litter quality deteriorated (P < 0.001). A higher incidence of immobile, small, sick, dirty, and dead was registered near house walls (P < 0.001). Differences across observers were detected for lame, immobile, and terminally ill birds (P < 0.001). For the observer by bird age interaction, differences were detected for dirty, tail wounds, and other wounds (P < 0.05). Pearson correlations between welfare indicators at week 3 and those at final weeks of age (P < 0.05) ranged between r values of −0.2 and 0.654 (P < 0.05). Correlations between welfare indicators and slaughter outcomes showed a relationship between flock mortality and dead on arrival, footpad dermatitis, leg problems, and illness (P < 0.05). Litter quality positively correlated with downgrades (P < 0.001). This study showed the potential of transects to detect differences in welfare indicators according to factors that effects were previously reported. It demonstrated the transect potential for detecting and predicting the consequences of welfare impairment on slaughter outcomes. This would make the transect method a useful tool for notifying and rectifying welfare deterioration as early as at 3 wk of age.
To determine the influences of season, distance and multiple-farm loads on pigs transported to slaughter under Spanish commercial conditions, 496 journeys, involving 90,366 pigs, were analysed. ...Mortality, liveweight loss, transport yield, killing out percentage, carcass yield after overnight chilling and percentage of condemned and trimmed carcasses were recorded. Season significantly affected killing out percentage and trimmed carcasses, with the lowest values found in autumn and summer, respectively. Distance significantly affected liveweight loss and transport yield. Loads composed of pigs from a number of farms had more deaths and carcass problems. It can be concluded that, under Spanish climatic conditions, if journey planning and handling at loading are adequately performed, season and distance do not impair the welfare of slaughter pigs. On the other hand, loading at a number of farms, alone, or interacting with distance, can compromise pig welfare.
Reproduction in tropical sheep is not affected by season, whereas the reproductive cycle of temperate-climate breeds such as Suffolk depends on the photoperiod. Close contact with tropical ewes ...during the anestrous period might induce Suffolk ewes to cycle, making the use of artificial light or hormonal treatments unnecessary. However, the integration of both breeds within the social group would be necessary to trigger this effect, and so the aim of the experiment was to determine the speed of integration of 2 groups of Saint Croix and Suffolk ewes into a single flock, according to space allowance and previous experience. For this, 6 groups of 10 ewes (half from each breed) from both breeds, housed at 2 or 4 m/ewe (3 groups/treatment) and with or without previous contact with the other breed, were monitored for 3 d. Each observation day, the behavior, movement, and use of space of ewes were collected during 10 min at 1-h intervals between 0900 and 1400 h. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test the effects of breed, space allowance, and previous experience on behavior, movement, and use of space. Net distances, interbreed farthest neighbor distance, mean interbreed distance, and walking frequencies were greater at 4 m/ewe ( < 0.05). Intrabreed nearest neighbor, mean intrabreed neighbor, and interbreed nearest neighbor distances and minimum convex polygons at 4 m/ewe were greatest for Saint Croix ewes, whereas the opposite was found for lying down ( < 0.05). Experienced ewes showed larger intrabreed nearest neighbor distances, minimum convex polygons, and home range overlapping ( < 0.05). Experienced ewes at 4 m/ewe showed longest total distances and step lengths and greatest movement activity ( < 0.05). Experienced ewes walked longer total distances during Day 1 and 2 ( < 0.05). Lying down frequency was greater for Day 3 than Day 1 ( < 0.05), and Suffolk ewes kept longer interindividual distances during Day 1 ( < 0.05). After 3 d of cohabitation, Suffolk and Saint Croix ewes did not fully integrate into a cohesive flock, with each breed displaying specific behavioral patterns. Decreasing space allowance and previous experience resulted in limited benefits for the successful group cohesion. Longer cohabitation periods might result in complete integration, although practical implementation might be difficult.
To find the effect of journey duration on the stress levels of weaned piglets a combination of physiological welfare indicators was used. One hundred and thirty-six piglets were monitored in two ...replicates of a short (0.6 h) and a long (8.3 h) commercial transport from a rearing to a growing–finishing farm. Variables studied were haematocrit, red blood cell count (RBC), total white blood cell count (WBC), differential WBC counts, serum pig's major acute phase protein (Pig-MAP), haptoglobin (Hp), cortisol, glucose, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total protein, and albumin before loading and immediately after unloading. A marked increase in leucocytes (
P
<
0.01) and a tendency to lower eosinophil concentrations (
P
=
0.086) were observed in those piglets transported during the short journeys. On the other hand, the decrease in lymphocytes was particularly remarkable in the long journeys (
P
<
0.01). No increase in Hp concentrations after the transports was found, but an increase in Pig-MAP concentrations was observed at the end of the long journeys (
P
<
0.001). Cortisol concentrations did not show significant changes in either short or long journeys. According to CPK (
P
<
0.05) and LDH activities, some physical fatigue was detected at the end of transports, particularly in the short journeys. The decrease in haematocrit values in the short journeys (
P
<
0.05), and the absence of variations in RBC, albumin, and total protein concentrations would indicate that the loss of body water during both transport durations was reduced. Sex did not affect the response of piglets to transport, which could be attributable to the young age of the animals. Changes in albumin concentrations (
P
<
0.05), together with the tendencies to higher WBC (
P
=
0.092) and neutrophil counts (
P
=
0.076), suggest a more marked response to the stress of transport in heterozygous for the halothane gene (
Nn) piglets than in homozygous negative (
NN) piglets. Overall results indicate that, although transports were generally stressful, it is unclear which of the two durations was more detrimental for piglet welfare, and suggest a different stress response to transport with respect to that of older pigs.
Factors affecting the number of weaned piglets found dead after commercial transport between farms were studied by means of multilevel Poisson regression. Information relating to 58,682 piglets ...during 109 journeys in different EU countries was collected at the end of each journey by means of questionnaires. Overall, 0.07 per cent of all the transported piglets were found dead on arrival, and deaths of piglets were recorded in 13.8 per cent of journeys. The final regression model, which was calculated using the complete records from 105 journeys, included the total duration of the journey, the mean outside temperature during the journey, whether the piglets were fasted before transport, whether drinking water was provided, the type of ventilation in the vehicle and the interaction between journey duration and the mean outside temperature. The duration of the journey and the mean outside temperature showed a significant interaction effect, with a gradual increase in the predicted number of dead piglets with increasing journey duration as the outside temperature increased. Providing the piglets with drinking water and having mechanically assisted ventilation (fans) in the vehicle during the journey significantly reduced the number of deaths, as did fasting the piglets before transport.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of transport duration (1 h or 13 h 15 min), season (summer, winter) and sex on serum concentrations of cortisol, glucose, creatine phosphokinase ...(CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), albumin and total protein in pigs transported to slaughter. Five transports in summer and two in winter with 82 females and 80 males weighing about 98 kg were carried out. All the variables studied increased during transport and decreased during lairage (P less than 0.001), with cortisol values being 3.47+/-0.19, 8.52+/-0.28 and 6.96+/-0.18 microg/dL at loading, unloading and exsanguinations, respectively, except for glucose (0.54+/-0.03, 0.44+/-0.04 and 0.86+/-0.03 g/L). Short journeys did not allow the total recovery from the loading stress. A certain level of dehydration was observed, especially during lairage on the longest journeys (increase of 6.87+/-1.29 g/L for total proteins; P less than 0.01). Winter transports were slightly more stressful (P less than 0.01 for cortisol and LDH, and P less than 0.001 for CPK), with poorer recovery during lairage (CPK decrease being -141+/-559 and -2,906+/- 730 IU/L for winter and summer journeys, respectively; P less than 0.01). Females showed higher stress reactivity. Genetics modulated the effect of the rest of influencing factors, with Nn individuals showing a rougher reaction in short and winter conditions, but with lower dehydration levels. Under Mediterranean commercial conditions, stress in transported slaughter pigs was largely determined by season and genetics, so that an adaptation of handling procedures to these seasonal variations appears crucial if transport stress is to be reduced.
A total of 351 Iberian pigs with equal numbers of both sexes from 2 commercial farms were used to study the ability of various identification devices to guarantee the traceability required for ...labeled meat products from Iberian pigs reared under extensive production conditions in Spain. The performance of tattoos, visual ear tags, electronic ear tags, and i.p.-injected transponders of half duplex and full duplex technologies were compared during a production cycle from nursery to slaughter at 15 mo of age (156 ± 3 kg of BW). No major health reactions to any of the identification methods were detected. Results showed that tattooing was not an adequate identification procedure due to reading difficulties as a consequence of dark skin, soiled appearance, and figure deformation. Ear tag losses and failures were affected by fencing type and increased in one of the farms (20.4 and 15.7% for losses and failures, respectively; P < 0.05) as a consequence of using barbed-wire fences. Ear tag losses decreased when fences changed to stone blocks at 365 d of age. Visual and electronic ear tag losses during transport and slaughter were low (3.7% for visual and 3.1% for electronic tag). Results of injectable transponders during the growing-fattening period were variable and were more readable for the half duplex than for the full duplex i.p. transponders (92.0 vs. 68.7% ± 1.5; P < 0.05). Handheld transceivers worked properly under extensive conditions, although the body size and skin characteristics of the Iberian breed might limit the performance of reading devices, and the use of transceivers with longer reading distances is recommended. The main problem observed with i.p. transponders was their low recovery rate at slaughter due to the lack of adherence of the transponders to the omentum.
A meta-analysis, using information from 45 experiments on growing-finishing pigs published in 39 manuscripts, was carried out to determine the simultaneous effects of the physical environment (space ...allowance, group size, flooring conditions, temperature, presence of enrichment), pig traits (initial body weight (BW) for each studied time interval, sex, genetics), feeder characteristics (water provision within the feeder, feeder design (individual/collective), feeder places/pig, presence of feeder protection) and feed characteristics (feed allowance (ad libitum/restricted), net energy content, crude protein (CP) content), as well as their potential interactions, on the feeding behaviour and performance of growing-finishing pigs. The detrimental effect of low temperature on performance was particularly evident for restricted-fed pigs (P < 0.05). At reduced feeder space allowance, a reduction in the percentage of time spent eating was predicted when increasing initial BW, whereas the opposite was predicted for larger feeder space allowances (P < 0.001). The reduction in visit duration to the feeder in higher BW groups became gradually more important with increasing feeder space allowance (P < 0.01), whereas the increase in the ingestion rate and average daily feed intake (ADFI) with increasing initial BW became smaller with increasing feeder space (P < 0.05). The model predicted a reduction in feed conversion ratio (FCR) with increasing group size (P < 0.05) and floor space allowance (P < 0.01) and on solid floors with or without bedding (P < 0.05). In comparison with other feeders, wet/dry feeders were associated with more frequent but shorter feeder visits (P < 0.05), higher ingestion rates (P < 0.001) and higher ADFI (P < 0.10). The use of protection within individual feeders increased the time spent feeding (P < 0.001), reduced the number of visits per day (P < 0.01), the ingestion rate (P < 0.001) and FCR (P < 0.01) in comparison with other feeder types. Sex modulated the effect of the number of feeder places/pig on FCR (P < 0.05), with a gradual reduction of FCR in entire males and females when increasing feeder space allowance. Genetics tended to modulate the effect of diets' CP content on FCR (P < 0.10). Overall, these results may contribute to the improvement of the welfare and performance of growing-finishing pigs by a better knowledge of the influence of the rearing environment and may help optimize the feeding strategies in current production systems.
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