Identification of Suitable Animal Welfare Assessment Measures for Extensive Beef Systems in New Zealand

Abstract

Farm animal welfare assessment protocols use different measures depending on production systems and the purpose of the assessment. There is no standardized validated animal welfare protocol for the assessment of beef cattle farms in New Zealand, despite the importance of beef exports to the country. The aim of this study was therefore to identify welfare measures that would be suitable for an animal welfare assessment protocol for use in extensive pasture-based cow–calf beef cattle systems in New Zealand. The proposed animal welfare assessment measures were selected from the Welfare Quality protocol and the rangeland-based UC Davis Cow–Calf Health and Handling assessment protocol. Measures that were deemed impractical and/or unsuitable were excluded from the protocol. After testing the applicability of selected measures at one farm, additional measures that were deemed to be practical to undertake in New Zealand were identified and incorporated into the protocol. The intention was to identify animal welfare indicators that were assessable in the yard during a single farm visit, a questionnaire guided interview, and a farm resource assessment visit that evaluated cattle health and management. Further testing of the 50 measures that were identified as being appropriate will be undertaken on commercial beef farms to develop a practicable welfare protocol for extensive pasture-based beef systems.

Development and Implementation of Baseline Welfare Assessment Protocol for Captive Breeding of Wild Ungulate—Punjab Urial (Ovis vignei punjabiensis, Lydekker 1913)

“…If any indicators among these were observed, animals were scored as "obvious", and animals having no sign of these indicators were scored as "non-obvious". All these indicators were validated in [25,27,39,40] for the welfare assessment of cattle.…”

Developing an Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Livestock Transported by Sea

“…For housed cattle, the management of feed supply and access to feed and water are critical [11]. Feed and water measures are also considered important on export vessels because such resources need to be produced (water) or carefully managed (feed) throughout a voyage.…”

“…Measures related to feeding were placed under the categories "absence of prolonged hunger/appropriate nutrition" and "absence of prolonged thirst". Body Condition Score (BCS) is considered an important measure for both species and is regarded as a robust, accepted and preferred measure for evaluating medium to long-term good feeding [11,12,40]. A shorter-term measure of feeding was required for our protocol; consequently, the number of troughs, the amount of feed available and cleanliness of feed troughs were included.…”

“…All protocols include a measure of coat or fleece cleanliness, and the extent of manure coverage of the hind, lower legs and flank. These measures are an important [11] for housed animals, indicating the cleanliness of the floor and bedding [12]. These measures are especially important during heat stress events, as a faecal coat can impede an animal's ability to thermoregulate and lead to ill-health [46].…”

“…As found by the Welfare Quality ® project, practicality demands that measures must be quick and easy to record [24] and efficiently integrated into the current regime of stockpersons, shipboard personnel or feedlot workers. Due to the multidimensional nature of animal welfare, there is no single indicator that can be considered to comprehensively evaluate the welfare state of an animal [29], and measures are context specific [11]. The livestock export industry provides a unique challenge for the collection of welfare assessments.…”