Animal Management and Welfare Flashcards
Cattle routine procedures
a) IM injection sites
b) Subcutaneous injection sites
c) IV injection sites
d) Blood sampling sites
e) Methods of oral administration
a) Neck (common in beef cattle as less valuable meat), Gluteals (common), Triceps (uncommon), Semimembranosus/semitendinosis (uncommon, small volumes)
b) Neck, Shoulder region (safer in head crush)
c) Jugular vein (common), Middle caudal vein (tail vein) for small volumes, Mammary vein (only emergency), Cephalic or dorsal metatarsal (occasionally in calves if jugular veins are thrombosed)
d) Jugular vein, Tail vein
e) Bolus (balling) guns, Drench guns, Stomach tubes (relieves rumen bloat and rumen fluid collection)
Cattle routine procedures
a) Caudal epidural anaesthesia
b) Blood/plasma transfusions
a) Common sites for administration: between Cd1-Cd2, can be S5-Cd1 (first movable joint). Dose is 1ml/100kg local anaesthetic
b) Donor can give 10-15ml blood per kg. In anaemic cow, 5L donated blood can raise PVC from 10%-14% (life-threatening to survival). Use catheter to donate over 30-45 mins
Cattle routine procedures
Methods of Disbudding/Dehorning
- Disbudding recommended by 2 weeks of age
- Corneal nerve block + ring block around horn
- Avoid dehorning during fly season
Cattle routine procedures
Methods of castration and possible complication
Complication - Scirrhous cord:
- Retention and infection of testicular tunics following infection
- Requires blunt dissection of scirrhous cord
- Spermatic cord ligated and incised, removing infected tissue
Cattle routine procedures
a) Bull ringing procedure
b) Supernumerary teat removal (restraint and anaesthesia, and technique)
c) Abscess drainage
a) 1. Bull in crush and sedated 2. Infra-orbital nerve block 3. Local anaesthetic at site 4. Fibrous septum punched, ring placed and secured 5. Antibiotic cream post-op
b) Restraint - dorsal recumbency in younger animals, standing in older. Anaesthetic - cattle > 3 months. Surgical technique: Isolated teats removed with burdizzo and shark scissors. Haemorrhage uncommon, but buturing may be required in adults
c) 1. Abscess drained using liberal (>5cm) incision 2. Incision should end at most dependent site 3. Large necrotic lumps and debris removed 4. Cavity flushed with antiseptic solution daily for 7 days
Animal welfare concepts
a) Define a sentient animal
b) What abilities does a sentient animal have (5)
c) Define emotions
a) Having awareness and cognitive ability necessary to have feelings
b) 1. Evaluate actions of others in relation to itself and third parties
2. Remember some of its own actions and consequences
3. Assess risks and benefits
4. Have feelings
5. Have a degree of awareness
c) An intense affective response to an event that is associated with specific bodily changes
Animal welfare concepts
a) Categorisation of needs (4)
b) FAWC’s Five Freedoms
c) EU Welfare quality scheme (4)
a) 1. Nutritional needs 2. Environmental needs 3. Health needs 4. Behavioural needs
b) 1. Freedom from hunger/thirst 2. Freedom from discomfort 3. Freedom from pain 4. Freedom to express normal behaviour 5. Freedom from fear and distress
c) 1. Good feeding 2. Good housing 3. Good health 4. Appropriate behaviour
Animal welfare concepts
a) Methods of determining an animal’s needs (4)
b) Describe these methods
a) 1. Ethogram 2. Preference/choice test 3. Aversion testing 4. Deprivation testing
Animal welfare concepts
a) Define stress
b) What type of responses are triggered by stress (4)
c) 4 Pathways that stress elicits CNS responses
a) Biological response elicited when an individual perceives a threat to its homeostasis
b) 1. Behavioural response 2. Autonomic nervous system response 3. Neuro-endocrine response 4. Immune response
Animal welfare concepts
a) Describe Morberg’s Stress and Strain Graph (A to D)
b) Define frustration
c) Define distress
d) Define suffering
b) When an aim generated by causal events cannot be achieved
c) High levels of stress that has a high biological cost
d) Unpleasant subjective feeling that is severe or prolongued
Animal welfare assessment
Physiological responses to stressors
a) Emotional stress (5)
b) Pain - acute (3)
a)
- Adrenergic response
- Adrenal cortex response
- Reduced LH, GRH, Prolactin
- Reduced core body temperature
- Reduced ghrelin
b)
- Adrenergic response
- Adrenal cortex response
- Enzymes related by trauma (CK, IDH, CRP)
Animal welfare assessment
Physiological responses to stressors
a) Osmotic stress
b) Energy depletion
c) Thermal stress
a)
- Adrenergic response
- Adrenal cortex response
- PCV, TP, Albumin, Electrolytes
b)
- Insulin, glucagon, leptin
- FFA, beta hydroxyl butyrate, glucose, urea
c)
- Prolactin
- Core temperature
- Skin temperature
- Panting, sweating
Animal welfare assessment
a) What sort of response to stress is adrenaline
b) Ways of measuring the biological effect of adrenaline (5)
c) Limitations to these measures
a) Acute response
b)
- Heart rate
- Heart Rate Variability
- Pupil Dilation
- Skin Temperature
- Fight or flight response
c) Changes in biometric parameters may be due to causes other than elevated adrenaline release
Animal welfare assessment
a) What sort of response to stress is cortisol/corticosterone
b) Consequences of chronic elevated cortisol (3)
c) Limitations of using cortisol to measure stress (5)
a) Chronic response
b)
- Immuno-suppression
- Mediated by IL-1 ; IL-2 ; IL-β
- Production of cardiac lesions and gastric ulceration
c)
- Levels vary with age, circadian rhythm, reproductive status
- Levels decline over time due to negative feedback
- Levels rise in normal life events
- Levels do not rise or stay high for stressors such as heat, confinement and pain
- No single cortisol level you can use to define when an animal is stressed
Animal welfare assessment
Physiological measures of stress
a) Reproductive capacity (1)
b) Stress-induced hyperthermia (2)
c) Production (1)
d) Hormone tests (1)
e) Limitations of physiological measures of stress (4)
a) LH and FSH levels affected by physical and emotional stress
b) Mediated via interleukins, prostaglandins and vasopressin. Common in captured wildlife
c) BCS, growth, leptin levels
d) Oxytocin, vasopressin, beta endorphins, ghrelin etc.
e) 1. Limited specificity
2. Invasive techniques may themselves cause stress
3. Presence of human observers may cause stress
4. Pulsatile nature of some hormonal parameters
Animal welfare assessment
Behavioural parameters for abnormal behaviour (7)
- Self-directed (e.g. Self-mutilation / self-licking or plucking)
- Environmentally directed (e.g. eating bedding, chewing on fence)
- Normal behaviour inappropriately directed to other animals (e.g. injurious pecking, dogs humping owners, inappropriate suckling)
- Failure of function (e.g. silent heat in cattle, neonatal rejection, infanticide)
- Prolonged inactivity
- Hyper-reactivity and hysteria
- Stereotypic behaviours
Animal welfare assessment
a) Overview of outcome-based measures
b) Welfare and productivity trade-off scale - label graph
c) Benefits of resource based methods (FAWC’s 5 freedoms) (4)
a) Relate to effect of resources and management on the
individual. Requires representative sample of individuals in the flock/herd
b) A – B : Symbiotic. B : Maximum animal welfare. B – C : Output increases at the cost of animal welfare. D : Max animal output. > D: Welfare is so egregious that it adversely impacts productivity
c) 1. Much easier than OBM’s 2. Quick and Easy 3. Cheaper 4. Used in (older) registration
Animal welfare assessment
Stereotypic behaviours
a) Predisposing factors (4)
b) Mechanism (3)
c) Examples (4)
a) 1. Lack of control of environment
2. Frustration
3. Unpredictability
4. Barren environment
b) 1. Dopaminergic neural systems stimulated by amphetamines, blocked by naloxone
2. Self-narcotisation with endogenous endorphins to enable animals to cope better in adverse environments
3. In low input environments oral stereotypies are associated with high input receptors
c) 1. Pacing and tracing
2. Circling and tail chasing
3. Head shaking and nodding
4. Bar biting
Animal welfare assessment
Hazard analysis and critical control points (HAACP) (7)
- Conduct hazard analysis
- Identify critical control points
- Establish critical limits for CCPs
- Establish CCP monitoring requirements
- Establish corrective actions
- Establish procedures to ensure methodology is working
- Establish record keeping procedures
Housing farm livestock
Welfare criteria
a) Good feeding (2)
b) Good housing (3)
c) Good health (3)
d) Appropriate behaviour (4)
a) 1. Absence of prolongued hunger 2. Absence of prolongued thirst
b) 3. Comfort around resting 4. Thermal comfort 5. Ease of movement
c) 6. Absence of injuries 7. Absence of disease 8. Absence of pain due to management
d) 9. Expression of social behaviours 10. Expression of other behaviours 11. Good human-animal relationship 12. Absence of general fear
Housing farm livestock
Describe thermoneutral zones
- Range of environmental temperatures which an animals metabolism is: constant, at a minimum & independent of environmental temperature
- Within the thermoneutral zone the animal regulates its body temperature without altering its heat production by adjusting its heat loss
- Preferred environment for optimum production and welfare
Housing farm livestock
Thermal comfort in housing of pigs and poultry (what type of housing used, what limits, when are animals most susceptible to death, how do older animals differ)
- Intensive housing evolved to keep air temperature as high as possible, maximising feed conversion (too cold and use energy to keep warm, too hot and use energy to keep cool)
- Limited by costs of maintaining a high temperature
- Most susceptible to death from heat stress during transport
- Older animals have wider thermoneutral zones
Housing farm livestock
Thermal comfort in housing of ruminants and horses
- Wide thermoneutral zone due to excellent regulation of heat loss by evaporation
- Climatic housing to protect against elements
- Housing is most economically profitable when it protects stock against extreme temperatures and facilitates heat loss by evaporation where necessary
Housing farm livestock
Livestock contribution to climate change
What are main contributing species
Enteric CH4 production and land use
- Cattle are main contributor (65%), pigs, poultry, buffaloes, small ruminants ~7-10%
- Livestock production and associated activities account for 10-20% global emissions
- Methane ~ 30% these emissions
- Land use ~ 38%
Ruminant nutrition
Complete the table for examples of crude protein content in protein feed
