• Login
    View Item 
    •   T-Stór
    • Other
    • Teagasc publications in Biomed Central
    • View Item
    •   T-Stór
    • Other
    • Teagasc publications in Biomed Central
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of T-StórCommunitiesPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsFunderThis CollectionPublication DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsFunderProfilesView

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Information

    Deposit AgreementLicense

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    An on-farm investigation of beef suckler herds using an animal welfare index (AWI)

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    1746-6148-6-55.pdf
    Size:
    388.4Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Mazurek, Mickael
    Prendiville, Daniel J.
    Crowe, Mark A
    Veissier, Isabelle
    Earley, Bernadette
    Keyword
    Beef suckler herds
    Date
    2010-12-13
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Statistics
    Display Item Statistics
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11019/261
    Citation
    BMC Veterinary Research. 2010 Dec 13;6(1):55
    Abstract
    Background: Beef suckler farms (194 farms throughout 13 counties) were assessed once with housed cattle and once with cattle at grass using an animal welfare index (AWI). Twenty-three of the 194 farms were revisited a year later and re-evaluated using the AWI and the Tier-Gerechtheits-Index 35L/2000 (TGI35L/2000). Thirty-three indicators were collected in five categories: locomotion (5 indicators); social interactions (between animals) (7), flooring (5), environment (7) and Stockpersonship (9). Three indicators relating to the size of the farm were also collected. Improving animal welfare is an increasingly important aspect of livestock production systems predominantly due to increased consumer concern about the source of animal products. The objectives were (i) to evaluate animal welfare of Irish beef suckler herds using an animal welfare index (AWI), (ii) to examine correlations between parameters, how they influence the AWI and investigate the applicability of the parameters used, (iii) to investigate the impact of the activity of the farmer (full-time or part-time), the interest of the farmer and the number of animals on the AWI. Results: The mean AWI was 65% and ranged from 54% to 83%. The grazing period represented 16.5% of the total points of the AWI. Seventy percent of the farms were rated as "Very Good" or "Excellent". There was no difference (P > 0.05) in AWI between full-time and part-time farmers. Part-time farmers had greater (P = 0.01) "social interactions": calving (P = 0.03) and weaning (P < 0.001) scores. Full-time farmers had cleaner animals (P = 0.03) and their animals had less lameness (P = 0.01). The number of animals on-farm and the interest of the Stockperson were negatively and positively correlated (P = 0.001), respectively, with the AWI. A hierarchical classification was performed to examine how the indicators influenced the AWI. Conclusion: The AWI was easily applicable for an on-farm evaluation of welfare. The Stockpersonship was an important factor in determining the AWI (11% of the total variation) more specifically, the interest of the farmer. Part and full-time farming did not differ (P > 0.05) in AWI scores. This method could, with further development, be used in countries with both intensive and/or extensive production systems and would require substantially less resources than animal-based methods.
    ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1746-6148-6-55
    Scopus Count
    Collections
    Livestock Systems
    Teagasc publications in Biomed Central
    Animal & Bioscience

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2017  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.