By Bockisch, F. and J, and Jungbluth, T. and Rudovsky, A., Zuechtungskunde, 1999
Description
The animal production and welfare committee of the German Society for Animal Breeding compile technical environmental indicators. The purpose of these indicators provide the animal with good conditions in keeping with demands to protect the environment. To achieve this, compromises are often made. It is sometimes thought that these technical indicators can be based strongly on discrete data of easily measurable parameters. This focus on certain characteristics of a production system leads to false assessments of animal welfare aspects in individual cases. For an assessment, the committee have produced a basic set of criteria comprising four assessment areas: supply of feed and water, waste handling, housing design and housing climate. In addition, these are differentiated according to animal species: cattle, pigs and laying hens. For cattle, for example, indicators include the design of the feeding area, the number of drinking units, the feeding technique and frequency of feeding. In pig production, similar criteria are considered. For example, in animal groups, the protection of a feeding animal from other animals in the group is an important detail. For the waste management, the floor design, security of footing, and waste management technique are important subcriteria. This means that the floor should be dry, clean and provide secure footing. The floor should ensure that natural hoof wearing occurs, and that hoofs are protected from injury (in particular in the case of perforated floors). In the assessment of the house design, aspects group and individual keeping systems are considered. For example the organisation of the functional areas in relation to one another and the degree to which the functions are separated. For the three mentioned animal species, climatic criteria focus on conditions that affect the animals directly. This means that climate factors such as temperature, relative humidity, dust and pollution gases, light intensity and lighting period, UV-radiation and climate stimuli are important indicators. Preliminary outcomes include for example the conclusion that indicators based only on technical details can lead to criteria that are not directly related to the welfare of the animal. System independent objective criteria that relate directly to the welfare and health of the animal are needed. Where system details are included there is the danger that the development of new systems is hindered. Animal welfare can be improved using technical developments such as automatic animal recognition using implanted transponders. In the end, for technical indicators a multi-factorial approach is required. This means good compromises should be sought
The animal production and welfare committee of the German Society for Animal Breeding compile technical environmental indicators. The purpose of these indicators provide the animal with good conditions in keeping with demands to protect the environment. To achieve this, compromises are often made. It is sometimes thought that these technical indicators can be based strongly on discrete data of easily measurable parameters. This focus on certain characteristics of a production system leads to false assessments of animal welfare aspects in individual cases. For an assessment, the committee have produced a basic set of criteria comprising four assessment areas: supply of feed and water, waste handling, housing design and housing climate. In addition, these are differentiated according to animal species: cattle, pigs and laying hens. For cattle, for example, indicators include the design of the feeding area, the number of drinking units, the feeding technique and frequency of feeding. In pig production, similar criteria are considered. For example, in animal groups, the protection of a feeding animal from other animals in the group is an important detail. For the waste management, the floor design, security of footing, and waste management technique are important subcriteria. This means that the floor should be dry, clean and provide secure footing. The floor should ensure that natural hoof wearing occurs, and that hoofs are protected from injury (in particular in the case of perforated floors). In the assessment of the house design, aspects group and individual keeping systems are considered. For example the organisation of the functional areas in relation to one another and the degree to which the functions are separated. For the three mentioned animal species, climatic criteria focus on conditions that affect the animals directly. This means that climate factors such as temperature, relative humidity, dust and pollution gases, light intensity and lighting period, UV-radiation and climate stimuli are important indicators. Preliminary outcomes include for example the conclusion that indicators based only on technical details can lead to criteria that are not directly related to the welfare of the animal. System independent objective criteria that relate directly to the welfare and health of the animal are needed. Where system details are included there is the danger that the development of new systems is hindered. Animal welfare can be improved using technical developments such as automatic animal recognition using implanted transponders. In the end, for technical indicators a multi-factorial approach is required. This means good compromises should be sought
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