Farm Animal Welfare
Integrating Psychological Monitoring
By Jenny Bowles
Producers' interest in animal well-being is often vague due to the lack of complete understanding. Well-being can be described as a cooperative agreement between the producer and the animals, much like an employer and the employee. If the employer offers a well-structured stress free workplace with incentives, the employee will then take the initiative to produce for the company. Stressed animals often have lower immunities to disease and often do not thrive well which leads to antibiotic usage and unnecessary losses. Addressing animals’ well-being and psychology will improve overall health and condition, thus resulting in fewer neonatal losses and utilization of feedstuff. This in turn will create higher productivity and increasing profits for the producer.
Farming moved towards large-scale production from the 1950's on which brought changes in housing and management. This led to improved health, but tended towards confinement (Keeling). In 1994, the USDA's Agricultural Research Service developed a national program called the Animal Well-Being and Stress Control System. This program's long-range goal is to develop measures of animal well-being to be used for the evaluation and improvement of the way farm animals are raised ("Furthing"). In 2000, the American Humane Association introduced a Free-Farmed label for food products that meets its criteria of humane treatment (Belsie). In 2002, the Organic label was introduced with guidelines to improve environmental concerns (Belsie). Producers now use various terms describing their products such as free-range, natural, and open-pastured and use specific labels such as organic and free-farmed which address the welfare of farm animals abstractly, but these programs hesitate to integrate psychological monitoring.
The Free-Farmed program attempts to improve animal condition through inspections that assure cleanliness and organization within the operation and the organic label strongly addresses environmental factors, lending to a natural based animal product, however, both programs lack direct attention to individual well-being and welfare quality assurance. Both programs address the physical basics suggesting vaccine usage, cleanliness, space, and proper nutrition, which can provide a structured introduction for the producer.
Initially general management practices must be in place before individual monitoring can occur. This entails an appropriate species-specific vaccination schedule geared towards preventing prevalent disease, a daily outlined routine of cleaning feeders, uneaten feedstuff and manure. In addition, it is imperative to allot proper space for eating and resting. Finally, it is necessary to ensure proper nutrition and weekly monitoring of body condition. A simple way to gauge condition can be done by palpitation of the backbone and ribs to ensure proper muscling.
Once those factors are in place, psychological monitoring can be integrated. First, one should observe and evaluate the animals while they are eating. The goal is to ensure that each animal gets its fair share, does not have to fight for its food, and that the food is
easy to obtain for animals of differing heights. The number of feeders, the space between feeders, and the height can be adjusted to meet this goal. Next, it is necessary to
incorporate a consistent and structured pattern at feeding times. Animals, like children, feel secure, and have less fear while thriving in a structured routine. Ideally, this entails feeding the animals two times a day, at the same time every day, and following the same schedule of events at each feeding. This not only gives structure to the herd, but also gives the producer a chance to observe his/her animals closely. The animals will respond to structure by showing the same behaviors at each feeding. This practice ensures easy identification of animals that are not behaving normally and will make the producer aware of needed adjustments in his/her program.
An animal breeding program that incorporates a structured routine into the care of animals increases animal well-being and productivity. For example, for ruminants, during a morning feed, each feeder should be filled in the same order. As the animals are eating their grain, observe their behaviors while proceeding to fill hay feeders. Next, clean all of the floors in the stalls. While they are eating, they will be less inclined to notice the abrupt movements of this procedure. Then proceed to fill and replace their water. After all of the chores are complete, this is another good time to stand back and observe to ensure all animals are behaving in a normal fashion. During an evening feeding, feed, water and evaluate in the same order but omit cleaning if the areas are still in sanitary conditions. If any animals are in show training, work with them after they have had their fill of food. Bred females require closer monitoring because typically they are prone to
metabolic conditions during pregnancy. Generally, bred females can be left with the other expecting girls and dry females throughout the main duration of their pregnancy, but as they approach their due date is it imperative to keep a watchful eye for signs of distress or
illness. For example, when a doe is one month away from kidding, begin introducing the doe into the kidding sector, which should entail a stall for her, a small pasture away from the other animals and extra feed.
Along with breeders, consumers have a high interest in animal friendly products as well. A survey conducted in 1999 found that 44% of Americans would pay 5% more for humanely raised meat and poultry (Belsie). Environmental correctness and over usage of antibiotics in the meat they consume also concerns many Americans. Species depletion has gained the attention of the consumer. An example of one such act that has caused concern among consumers is finning, or the harvesting of live sharks’ fins, leaving the animals to bleed to death after they are tossed back into the sea. The idea of cows, sheep, goats, chickens and pigs living in unfair conditions that lack attention to individual welfare have led the consumer toward this trend. Not only does the consumer want their meat to be healthy, they want to know that the animals' well-being was taken into consideration.
Major food chains and grocers have responded to society’s concerns of humane products. McDonald’s responded in 2000 by asking their egg suppliers to increase by one-third the cage space they allot for each laying hen (Belsie). Long time celebrated chef owners Alice Waters, Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter, Stephen Pyles and other high
profile figures demand that their suppliers heed economical growing and processing methods to preserve the natural integrity of food (Prewitt). The restaurant Campanile in
Privately and without regulations farmers are already working to improve the well-being of their farm animals by using various terms and practices such as free-range, natural, organic, open-pastured, and free-farmed. Integrating psychological monitoring is the final step to achieve higher productivity. The incentives are clearer to the producer and with further studies such as the USDA's Well-being program and techniques such as the example given above, these goals can be achieved more rapidly and productively creating a win-win situation for the animals, the producer and the consumer.
WORKS CITED
Belsie, Laurent "Chicken Tenderly." Christian Science Monitor 11/6/200, Vol. 92 Issue 242, p11.0p, 2c. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCOhost.
"Furthering The Well-Being of Farm Animals." Anonymous. Agricultural Research.
Keeling, Linda J. "Healthy and Happy: Animal Welfare as an Integral Part of Sustainable Agriculture." Ambio.
Prewilt,
About the Author: Jenny Bowles is the founder of the National Miniature Goat Association, and the editor and contributing author of their quarterly newsletter. She helps educate goat keepers through her articles relating to modern management and care of the goat. She has a small multi operational farm, called Trestle Creek Farm, which offers a line of goat milk soap, handcrafted hay bags and sales of her herds' offspring. She actively has maintained a herd of goats for over a decade.
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