Lecture 23 Flashcards
Current welfare issues in beef cattle
What is an animal welfare issue?
1pt
Out of the three approaches to address animal welfare, vets and producers often focus too much on basic health and functioning, and neglect affective states and natural living.
- Habituation, desensitization,… lack of perspective on what other stakeholders (consumers) may consider a problem.
What elements should be considered when prioritizing animal welfare issues?
5pt
- Prevalence: # of animals affected in the population
- Severity: degree of individual suffering
- Duration: period of time for which an individual may experience the welfare issue
- Based on the potential for change: how easy is to implement an effective solution, or for it to be adopted by the industry
- Degree of public concern: issue most likely to negatively impact the social license
what is the consumer disconnection from production practices?
2pt
- Most people do not know what the life cycle of a beef cow is like
- “Cattle are raised quickly and fed cheaply. They’re pumped with hormones and antibiotics that transfer to the meat we eat when they’re slaughtered.”
What is the consumers biggest concern with production practices?
1pt
Animal welfare (29%)
43% had no concerns
What do non-expert people identify as animal welfare problems?
6pt
- Provision of choice (e.g. shade, cafeteria-style diets)
- Longevity, killing of young animals
- Wasteful death (e.g. mass depopulation)
- Aesthetics of methods of killing (e.g. effective stunning/bleeding)
- Aesthetics of the animal, and their environment (e.g. stocking density, transport)
- Human kindness/stockmanship (e.g. health management, painful procedures)
What are the biggest welfare concerns?
3pt
- Live animal transport
- stocking density
- painful procedures
Why is transport a welfare concern?
2pt
- Often, the only time general public get to see animals used in agriculture
- Important public and trade concerns worldwide
Why is transportation perceived to be one of the most stressful events?
7pt
- unfamiliar sounds
- unpredictiable motions (start-stop, turns)
- temperature
- water and food restrictions
- handling during loading and unloading
- crowding, commingling
- issues related to cull cows
When during transportation does a cow lose the most body weight?
1pt
Hot temperatures
where are the most compromised and unfit cattle transported to?
1pt
Provincial abattoir (short distance)
What was the Effect of rest stop duration during long distance transport on welfare indicators in recently weaned beef calves? conditioned vs unconditioned
2pt
- 36 h with 8 hours of rest before more travel was the best results
- conditioned animals did better (calves given time to adjust to weaning. trandport and weaning not done on same day)
can travel a max of 36 h in 1 go.
How does stocking density impact cattle?
4pt
- Close proximity to other animals, human infrastructure and human handling may increase the incidence of stress-mediated diseases (e.g. BRD).
- Social dynamics within highly populated pens may impact feed consumption patterns, with potential implications on gut health (e.g. acidosis), feed efficiency, growth performance, and carcass value (e.g. marbling score and liver abscesses).
- Changes in feed bunk space and pen space allowance did not result in any major change in the growth performance, temperament, chronic stress, rumen pH or carcass traits of finishing steers.
- The only substantial effect of increasing feed bunk space was an 18% increase in the proportion of carcasses graded as AAA, although this also came with an unexpected increase in the proportion of livers with either minor or severe liver abscesses.
dominant animals performed better
what does the beef cattle codes of practice say about stocking density?
3pt
- All cattle in a group must have sufficient space to adopt normal resting postures at the same time.
- Cattle kept in groups must be able to move freely around the pen and access feed and water.
- Stocking density must be managed such that growth performance, normal behaviour, morbidity and mortality rates, and physical appearance are not adversely affected by crowding.
What are the kinds of painful procedure done on cattle?
3pt
- Castration
- Dehorning/Disbudding
- Branding
Why do we casterate cattle?
1pt
To avoid unwanted breeding, reduce aggression (improve human and animal safety) and improve carcass quality
What are the codes of practice castration requirements?
4pt
- Castrate calves as young as practically possible (preferably <1 week)
- Castration must be performed by competent personnel using proper instruments
- Seek guidance from your veterinarian on method, timing and pain control
- Use pain control to mitigate pain associated with castration in bulls older than 6 months
Young calves show less pain
Surgical / burdizzo methods cause more acute pain, while banding results in a more chronic pain
Why do we dehorn/dusbud cattle?
1pt
To decrease the risk of injury for handlers and other cattle, and minimize the economic loss due to carcass bruising
What are the codes of practice dehorning/disbudding requirements?
4pt
- Disbud calves as early as practically possible (<2-3 months)
- Dehorning must be performed by competent personnel using proper instruments
- Seek guidance from your veterinarian on pain control
- Use pain control to mitigate pain associated with dehorning after horn bud attachment
Why do we brand cattle?
1pt
Permanent animal identification, easy to identify from a distance, and legally accepted as proof of ownership. It may be required by community pastures, lending institutions or for export.
What are the codes of practice branding requirements?
3pt
- All cattle must be identified using an approved ear tag as stipulated by applicable regulations.
- It must be performed with the proper equipment, restraint and by competent personnel
- Do not brand wet cattle due to risk of scalding
Explain using drugs for pain control.
3pt
- Use of anesthetics or analgesics can also help to control pain, especially in older animals.
- Oral meloxicam, only one labelled for use during castration.
- Extra time, extra money, extra effort
