ANIMAL WELFARE (Issues in Beef Cattle)

Question 1

3 approaches to address animal welfare:

Answer 1

1. Basic health and functioning
2. Natural living
3. Affective states

Question 2

Producers and vets approach to address animal welfare:

Answer 2

-often focus on basic health and functioning
-habituation, desensitization, lack of perspective on what consumers may consider a problem
*consumers often focus on the natural living and affective states

Question 3

Consumer disconnection from production practices:

Answer 3

-focus groups with consumers who claim to be knowledgeable or interested in the topic of food production, most of them struggle to elaborate
*most concerning was their misconceptions of how cattle are raised

Question 4

Misconceptions of how cattle are raised:

Answer 4

-quickly and cheaply
-pumped with hormones and antibiotics

Question 5

Consumers concerns on production practices:

Answer 5

-43% had no concerns
-29% had animal welfare concerns

Question 6

Folk conceptions of welfare: (what non-experts people identify as welfare problem)

Answer 6

-provision of choice
-longevity, killing of young animals
-wasteful death
-aesthetics of methods of killing
-aesthetics of the animal and their environment
-human kindness/Stockmanship

Question 7

Provision of choice

Answer 7

-shade
-cafeteria-style diets

Question 8

Wasteful death:

Answer 8

-mass depopulation

Question 9

Aesthetics of methods of killing:

Answer 9

-effective stunning/bleeding

Question 10

Aesthetics of the animal and their environment:

Answer 10

-stocking density
-transport

Question 11

Welfare concern: live animal transportation:

Answer 11

-often the only time the general public sees the animals used in agriculture
-important public and trade concerns worldwide
-perceived to be one of the most stressful events

Question 12

One of the most stressful events: live animal transportation:

Answer 12

-unfamiliar sounds
-unpredictable motions (start-stop, turns)
-temperature
-water and feed restriction
-handling during loading and unloading
-crowding, commingling
-issues related to cull cows (ex. lameness)
-etc.

Question 13

Temperature: live animal transport:

Answer 13

-transport duration and ambient temperatures have a multiplicative effect on each other
-more of a problem during the summer when it’s hot
-if the temperature is low, the temperature of the animal is fine

Question 14

Transport and loss of body weight:

Answer 14

-if -20C need to spend a lot of time on the truck to lose weight
-higher the temperature, the more likely to lose body weight
-add 1.56% of BW for feeder cattle, 2.6 for calves and 3.56 for cull cattle to any value on the figure

Question 15

Animal health: downers from transport

Answer 15

-at 30C and below -20C increases the amount dead or downer
-more time on the truck also increased the lame, dead and downers (especially after 20-30hrs)

Question 16

How often does cattle get transported when arrive at auction:

Answer 16

-fit, compromised, unfit
-over 98% animals were fit upon arrival
-amount of animal welfare compromised in transport maybe isn’t as bad as we think
*for provincial abattoir there was an increase in compromised animals
-federal abattoir had mostly fit animals

Question 17

Compromised:

Answer 17

-may only be transported with special provisions for care

Question 18

Unfit:

Answer 18

-may only be transported for veterinarian treatment or diagnosis

Question 19

Effect of rest stop during long distance transport:

Answer 19

-now 36h before you need to stop
-no consistent effect on welfare indicators
-animals seemed fine no matter the rest time
>hard to replicate industry conditions?

Question 20

Rested vs. unrested:

Answer 20

-few statistically significant differences between rested and unrested calves (NEFA and standing time)

Question 21

Auction vs. ranch direct:

Answer 21

-few and inconsistent indicators of reduced welfare were observed

Question 22

Conditioned vs. unconditioned:

Answer 22

-preconditioning was the main event that effects animal welfare during transport (ex. weaned and offered food and water before transport)

Question 23

Unconditioned cattle:

Answer 23

Increased:
-fat breakdown
-inflammation
-muscle damage
-standing time (discomfort)
Decreased:
-stress
-fear

Question 24

What can increase the incidence of stress-mediated disease (BRD)?

Answer 24

-closer proximity of other animals
-human infrastructure
-human handling

Question 25

Social dynamics within highly populated pens:

Answer 25

May impact feed consumption patterns with potential implications on:
-gut health (ex. acidosis)
-feed efficiency
-growth performance
-carcass value (ex. marbling score and liver abscesses)

Question 26

What space allowance do cattle prefer in order to maintain normal social interactions?

Answer 26

-when increase space allowance from 20 to 360m2 it did linearly reduced agonist encounters
-average inter-individual distance remained between 10 to 12m

Question 27

Code of practice of beef cattle:

Answer 27

-all cattle in group must have sufficient space to adopt normal resting postures at same time
-cattle in groups must be able to move freely around the pen and access food and water
-stock density must be managed so factors are not adversely effected by crowding

Question 28

Factors with stocking density:

Answer 28

-growth performance
-normal behaviour
-morbidity
-mortality rates
-physical appearance

Question 29

Feedlots and general public view:

Answer 29

-perceived as less ‘natural’ production system and more harmful to the animals
-industry will need to address this perception at some point beyond the evidence on cattle productivity as that is unlikely to resolve the negative perceptions

Question 30

Effects of feed bunk competition on feed behaviour and growth performance:

Answer 30

-the incoming animal (in:out ratio >1.5): performance was better
-eating rate was faster in animals that were being displaced (in:out ratio: <0.5)
>fast eating rate=more likely to get acidosis
-balanced animals in between

Question 31

Castration:

Answer 31

-to avoid breeding
-reduce aggression (improve human and animal safety)
-improve carcass quality

Question 32

Castration code of practice requirements:

Answer 32

-as young as possible (less than a week)
-performed by competent personnel using proper instruments
-seek guidance from vet on method, timing and pain control
-use pain control when bulls are older than 6months

Question 33

Methods of castration:

Answer 33

-all methods cause pain
-preferred method is based on age and experience
-surgical/burdizzo methods cause more acute pain
-banding results in a more chronic pain (behaviour, physiology, performance)

Question 34

Dehorning/disbudding:

Answer 34

-decrease risk of injury for handlers and cattle
-minimize the economic loss due to carcass bruising

Question 35

Dehorning/disbudding code of practice requirements:

Answer 35

-disbud as early as practically possible (less than 2-3 months)
-dehorning by competent personnel using proper instruments
-seek guidance from vet on pain control
>use it to mitigate pain associated with dehorning after horn bud attachment

Question 36

Branding:

Answer 36

-permanent animal ID
-easy to identify from a distance
-legally accepted as proof of ownership
-may be required in community pastures, lending institutions or for export

Question 37

Branding code of practice requirements:

Answer 37

-all cattle must be identified using an approved ear tag
-must be performed with proper equipment, restraint and by competent personnel
-do not brand wet cattle due to risk of scalding

Question 38

Using drugs for pain control:

Answer 38

-use of anesthetics or analgesics can help to control pain, especially in older animals
-oral meloxicam is the only one labeled for use during castration
-extra time, extra money, extra effort
*traditional not used, but not has shown to be effective and worth it

Question 39

Take home messages:

Answer 39

-industry standards and codes of practice and communication are increasingly influences by citizens and consumers demands and behaviours
-need to get the message across the general public
-push for more sustainable systems
*animal welfare important for ethical reasons but also due to impact on human health