Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is the Principles of housing
- It is better to adapt the housed environment to conform to the animal, rather than forcing the animal to adapt to an environment
• Having accepted the first principle, it is the quality of management and care within an animal’s environment that has the greatest influence on its welfare, more than the particular design features of a generally suitable environment.
• Animals need a relatively clean, dry, comfortable and possibly thermally insulated place to rest.
• Animals should be able to access suitable feed and water without undue social competition or bullying.
• The thermal conditions should generally be within the animal’s thermoneutral range or during periods outside this range should not cause too great a cost of adaptation through heat loss or conservation.
• Ventilation should be adequate to prevent the build up of aversive or noxious gases from waste such as ammonia or hydrogen sulfide.
• Social animals should be housed in compatible social groups.
• Strong behavioural needs or motivations may need to be catered for through environmental enrichment in order to minimize stress or prevent the development of abnormal or undesirable behaviours. (tongue rolling, bar biting)
How can you gauge cow housing comfort?
Their resting time, the smaller the area, the lesser they rest. They get appropriate resting time when there are enough space
What is the threshold of ammonia and its effects?
20 ppm, Reduces resistance to respiratory disease
What is the threshold of hydrogen sulphide and its effects?
10 ppm, Extremely toxic to animals and humans, it is a neurotoxic
What is the threshold of carbon dioxide and its effects?
4% (40000 ppm), From respiration and manure breakdown
What are the housing benefits in animal health?
–Control of diet
–Separation from faeces, environmental sources of disease
–Control of thermal environment
What are the housing risks in animal health?
–Close proximity may aid disease spread once introduced
–Need to maintain cleanliness
–Animals dependent on humans/machines for feed & water (+ventilation)
–Built environment may decrease comfort
Animal comfort and behaviour in the housed environment summary
• Needs to provide a comfortable area for animals to rest
• Sufficient space and social opportunity to fulfil key behavioural needs.
• Animals that are frustrated from performing important behaviours may develop abnormal behaviours
–Actions causing injury either to the performer or recipient
–Stereotypic behaviours, repetitive and constant in form and orientation
–Abnormal body movements which are not displayed by the species in the “natural environment”
–Redirected behaviour which is performed in the absence of an appropriate stimulus
–Apathetic behaviour
• Stereotypies
–fixed, specialised forms of abnormal behaviour patterns that occur in both animals and disturbed humans
–a pattern of behaviour that is repetitive, unvarying and serves no obvious goal or function
• Abnormal body movements which are not displayed by the species in the natural environment
What are ways to determine the comfort of the animal
• Abnormal body movements which are not displayed by the species in the natural environment
How does the cow lie down when it is comfortable
the 6 steps, front leg will bend down first followed by the back
How does the cow lie down when it is uncomfortable
It will do the dog sitting position where the cow will first sit with the back then the front
Ways to measure animal welfare
- Experimental research
- Animal welfare screening and audit
- Broad scale welfare assurance
Why do we measure animal behaviour
- Behaviour of an animal is intrinsically linked to its brain processes and neuroendocrine state and may be the closest we can come to evaluating an animal’s feelings
- Behaviour is relevant to welfare concepts Five Freedoms
- Animal behaviour may also be measured simply by observing the animal
What is inelastic demand function?
It is the quantity of things needs no matter the change of the requirement
What is elastic demand
It means the quantity reduces as the requirement increases
