A simple method for on-farm evaluation of sheep welfare using animal-based indicators

Marcone, Giovanni; Carnovale, Francesca; Arney, David; Rosa, Giuseppe De; Napolitano, Fabio

doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2022.106636

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Cattle presents the most common individually registered livestock species in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, high numbers of deficiencies were found in sheep, where, as Marcone et al (2022) report based on the results of their study in Italy, the most common problem and therefore the most relevant indicator of sheep welfare tends to be the incidence of mastitis, lameness, and poor fitness. It is these problems that have a major impact on animal production and health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Analysis of the major deficiencies detected during welfare inspections of farm animals in the Czech Republic

Švestková,

Pištěková,

Takáčová

et al. 2024

Acta Vet. Brno

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The level of compliance with livestock welfare requirements is directly reflected in animal health, behaviour, and performance as well as farm profitability. It is mandatory to keep animals in conditions that prevent suffering and that respect animal needs in terms of biology and ethology. Compliance with these obligations in the Czech Republic is supervised by the State Veterinary Administration (SVA) through inspectors affiliated to the veterinary administrations at the regional level. The aim of the study was to identify the main deficiencies observed during official site visits carried out at livestock holdings in 2016–2020 and to assess the trend of the most frequently occurring deficiencies during the reference period. Data obtained from Central Veterinary Administration of the SVA containing a total of 9,147 records of partial welfare checks were subjected to the analysis. The percentage of site visits where deficiencies were found at livestock holdings was 15.04%. When analysed in more detail, the results revealed a significantly (P < 0.05) highest frequency of violations with respect to administration and animal marking (2,054) followed by the provision of treatment and spatial conditions. The trend analysis showed no significant increase or decrease in the frequency of violations in the selected areas during the reference period (P > 0.05). The results show the need to focus on compliance with duties in the framework of administration and animal marking, provision of treatment, and provision of animal management standards, especially in terms of spatial conditions, nutrition, and animal hygiene where violations were consistently found most often.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Analysis of the major deficiencies detected during welfare inspections of farm animals in the Czech Republic

Švestková,

Pištěková,

Takáčová

et al. 2024

Acta Vet. Brno

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The health and welfare of animals raised in animal production are becoming increasingly important. Animals' exposure to adverse effects of the environment outside the comfort zone causes negative effects such as low productivity and diseases (Marcone et al, 2022). In providing ideal conditions for animals, sometimes negligence may occur due to lack of awareness or knowledge and sometimes due to economic inadequacies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural Features of Sheep Farms in Ordu Province

ATEŞ

Çam

2022

Black Sea Journal of Agriculture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study was carried out to determine the structural characteristics of sheep breeding, herd owners, and general characteristics of sheep breeding enterprises in Ordu province by survey method. There are 1883 sheep farms in Ordu, and it has been determined that in 1116 (59.27%) of these farms, the number of sheep is below 100 heads, the number of animals per farm, in general, varies between 1-3242 heads, and the average number of animals per farm is 102 heads. The study data were obtained from 76 farms selected according to the stratified sampling method among 100 animals or more farms. Of the 76 breeders surveyed, 59.21% graduated from primary school, 14.47% from secondary school, 22.36% from high school and 3.95 bachelor degrees. It has been determined that the level of education does not make a difference in production, management, and the attempt to do additional work (2=9.666, P=0.139). In the study, 26.3% of the herd owners are engaged in sheep breeding as a source of livelihood, while the remaining 73,7% are involved in sheep breeding together with other business areas. In conclusion, it was determined that the level of education, experience, age, and additional work status of the breeders were not effective on the size of the flock, the number of lambs obtained per ewe, lamb survivability and business management in sheep farms. As a result, for sheep farms to reach a more profitable, innovative and sustainable situation in Ordu province, those with less than 100 sheep per farm should be encouraged to increase the number of animals and the problem of finding a shepherd should be resolved.

show abstract

“…The total of 100% of excellent assessments found in medium and large farms suggests that, for both pasture and indoors, the environment did not have injurious features. Marcone et al [32] and Napolitano et al [31] also reported a low number of skin lesions in semi-extensively reared sheep. The assessment of annual mortality of adult sheep (C.31) and lambs (C.32) was found to be related to farm dimension (p < 0.001) and was excellent in medium and large flocks.…”

Section: Animal-based Measures-area Cmentioning

confidence: 95%

Risk Categorization in On-Farm Welfare in Different-Sized Dairy Sheep Flocks

Salari,

Roncoroni,

Mariottini

et al. 2024

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of the present work was to categorize the risks in the on-farm welfare of dairy sheep in semi-extensive systems in order to highlight if risks in welfare vary according to the farm size. To the best of our knowledge, this study constitutes one of the few categorizations of the risks in the welfare of dairy sheep reared semi-extensively. The survey was conducted on 12 semi-extensive dairy sheep farms in Tuscany (Central Italy), which were classified according to flock size: <500, from 500 to 1000, and >1000. The results showed an adequate rating for all the farms included in the study. The most critical issues concerned the ratio between the number of stockpersons and the number of animals within the farms, the small decubitus areas, the lack of udder cleaning procedures during milking operations, and, in terms of biosecurity, the lack of prevention, control, and eradication plans for the most important infectious ovine diseases. The results show that different items in the five areas evaluated, including the assessments of management of the flock, the number of daily inspections, and the hygiene of the water supplies are associated with the farm size. In large farms, the assessment of management of the flock was better, but the number of daily inspections and the hygiene of the water supplies were worse.

show abstract

A simple method for on-farm evaluation of sheep welfare using animal-based indicators

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Analysis of the major deficiencies detected during welfare inspections of farm animals in the Czech Republic

Analysis of the major deficiencies detected during welfare inspections of farm animals in the Czech Republic

Structural Features of Sheep Farms in Ordu Province

Risk Categorization in On-Farm Welfare in Different-Sized Dairy Sheep Flocks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About