Luc Mounier

Visual discrimination of species in dogs (Canis familiaris)

In most social interactions, an animal has to determine whether the other animal belongs to its own species. This perception may be visual and may involve several cognitive processes such as discrimination and categorization. Perceptual categorization is likely to be involved in species characterized by a great phenotypic diversity. As a consequence of intensive artificial selection, domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, present the largest phenotypic diversity among domestic mammals. The goal of our study was to determine whether dogs can discriminate any type of dog from other species and can group all dogs whatever their phenotypes within the same category. Nine pet dogs were successfully trained through instrumental conditioning using a clicker and food rewards to choose a rewarded image, S+, out of two images displayed on computer screens. The generalization step consisted in the presentation of a large sample of paired images of heads of dogs from different breeds and cross-breeds with those of other mammal species, included humans. A reversal phase followed the generalization step. Each of the nine subjects was able to group all the images of dogs within the same category. Thus, the dogs have the capacity of species discrimination despite their great phenotypic variability, based only on visual images of heads.

Does milk yield reflect the level of welfare in dairy herds

Under the assumption that milk yield may be reduced in herds with impaired welfare, the present study aimed at investigating whether milk yield could be used as a reliable indicator of welfare. In 125 commercial French dairy herds, the association between the welfare of the herd (evaluated using the Welfare Quality assessment protocol) and cow milk yield was investigated using linear mixed models. Positive associations were identified between milk yield and low aggressions between cows and good emotional state of the herd but there was a negative association with good health assessed through the occurrence of diseases and injuries. These opposite associations resulted in no association with the overall welfare of the herd. Milk yield should not therefore be used as an indicator of overall welfare.

The major welfare problems of dairy cows in French commercial farms: an epidemiological approach

Animal welfare enhancement requires that problems are reliably identified and ranked in order to prioritise corrective actions. Welfare problems vary with the conditions in which animals are maintained. The objectives were to highlight major welfare problems for dairy cows on farms in France, and find out how farm characteristics (housing and milking systems, breed) could impact specific welfare aspects on these farms. We conducted a cross-sectional survey on 131 French dairy farms. We used the Welfare Quality® protocol, which addresses all aspects of welfare, and yields scores for principles and criteria that represent how well farms meet welfare requirements (from 0 for a very adverse situation to 100 for an excellent one). We used descriptive statistics to highlight low welfare scores, and variance analyses to compare farms. Most farms were found ‘Acceptable’ according to the Welfare Quality® classification. Principles scores for Health, Feeding and Behaviour ranged from 33 to 39. The median score for eight of the welfare criteria was below 50 (‘Pain’, ‘Integument alterations’, ‘Diseases’, ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Social behaviours’, ‘Human-animal relationship’, ‘Positive emotional state’, ‘Hunger’), while the median score was above 50 for the four other criteria (‘Thirst’, ‘Lameness’, ‘Expression of other behaviours’, ‘Ease of movement’). The scores varied widely between farms, within and between systems. Farms with cubicles obtained lower scores for ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Injuries’; farms with Holstein cows obtained lower scores for ‘Hunger’; farms using an automatic milking system obtained lower scores for ‘Expression of other behaviours’ and ‘Diseases’ in Holstein herds. This survey yields information on bottlenecks in dairy cow welfare with all dimensions of welfare considered together. The results can be used by stakeholders to prioritise corrective actions in welfare plans, focusing either on the whole population of farms or on farms with characteristics that are at high risk for specific welfare problems.

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at the Farm and Group Level

The CoreOrganic2 research project ProPIG is carried out in 75 organic pig farms in 8 European countries (AT; CH; CZ; DE; DK; FR; IT; UK) to improve animal health, welfare and nutrition using farm customised strategies. For future on-farm application (e.g. advisory/certification activities, which are mostly carried out during one day visits), a practical, automatic recording and feedback tool was developed. This should allow on-farm data collection, import of data into a database and the possibility for benchmarking, including a printed output for the farmer to facilitate immediate discussion of results and improvement strategies. To document not only animal health and welfare, but also integrate diet composition and productivity data, it was important to choose key indicators from all areas, which would be available across all eight countries. Based on existing on-farm welfare assessment protocols (e.g. WelfareQuality®, CorePIG) indicators were selected by the consortium, which were then transferred into a Software programme (“PigSurfer”). This Software is available as Desktop- or Android version to be used on Tablet PCs, so that on-farm data (interview with farmer; direct observations on weaners, finishers, sows; productivity and treatment records; feed) can be entered directly. During two visits a database was built and a “Farm report” was printed for each farm, with benchmarking of results, feedback and discussion with the farmer. After a year, “PigSurfer” was used to carry out the following complete process during one day visits across Europe: Surveillance of health and welfare, feedback of data in comparison with results from the previous year as well as benchmarking with 75 other pig farms and printing a report. “PigSurfer” is a promising tool for communicating health and welfare, as it provides not only a database, which can be continuously extended, but is an important step to move from research to on-farm application across Europe.