Silvana Mattiello

Welfare problems in alpine dairy cattle farms in Alto Adige (Eastern Italian Alps)

Abstract The present investigation aims to highlight the main welfare problems of dairy cattle farms in Alto Adige (North Eastern Italy) by means of animal based indicators. The relationship between animal based and resource based (housing and management) indicators were investigated in order to obtain useful information for improving welfare levels in mountain husbandry systems. We highlighted some welfare problems, especially in tie-stalls, mainly related to stall and feed trough dimensions and design; however, in these situations good stockmenship seems to be able to compensate for structural lacks.

Relationship between behaviour and heart rate as an indicator of stress in domestic sheep under different housing systems

Four adult Bergamasca rams were used in three types of housing: (1) common enclosures, consisting of a wooden paddock of 3 m × 7 m, partially covered by a shed; (2) metabolic cages of 57 cm × 135 cm; (3) fixed housing, with the animals tied by a rope about l m in length to a ring fixed on a wall. Heart rate was measured by means of a biotelemetric system during free standing, free lying, restrained standing and restrained lying, feeding, mastication, ruminating and drinking. The results show that rams, housing system and the interaction between behaviour and housing system affected heart rate (P < 0.001) during restrained standing and restrained lying. Heart rate in metabolic cages was lower (P < 0.001) than in other housing systems. Behaviour (considering only restrained standing and restrained lying) did not affect heart rate. Nevertheless, the interaction between behaviour and housing system showed that, within each housing system, heart rate during restrained standing was always higher than during restrained lying (P < 0.001). In all types of housing systems, a higher heart rate was observed in the second measurement (P < 0.001), which implies a state of greater agitation in the animals, probably due to the absence of a constant and familiar figure in the present experiment. From a methodological point of view, this study underlines the importance and efficacy of the determination of heart rate as an indicator of the reactive state of sheep.

On-Farm Welfare Assessment Protocol for Adult Dairy Goats in Intensive Production Systems

Simple Summary The Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) project developed a practical welfare assessment protocol for lactating dairy goats in intensive husbandry systems, using animal-based indicators that cover the whole multidimensional concept of animal welfare. The strict collaboration between scientists and stakeholders resulted in an easy-to-use protocol that provides farmers or veterinarians with comprehensive but clear feedback on the welfare status of the herd in less than three hours. The protocol, which highlights key points and motivates farmers to achieve improvements, has received much attention from interested parties. Abstract Within the European AWIN project, a protocol for assessing dairy goats’ welfare on the farm was developed. Starting from a literature review, a prototype including animal-based indicators covering four welfare principles and 12 welfare criteria was set up. The prototype was tested in 60 farms for validity, reliability, and feasibility. After testing the prototype, a two-level assessment protocol was proposed in order to increase acceptability among stakeholders. The first level offers a more general overview of the welfare status, based on group assessment of a few indicators (e.g., hair coat condition, latency to the first contact test, severe lameness, Qualitative Behavior Assessment), with no or minimal handling of goats and short assessment time required. The second level starts if welfare problems are encountered in the first level and adds a comprehensive and detailed individual evaluation (e.g., Body Condition Score, udder asymmetry, overgrown claws), supported by an effective sampling strategy. The assessment can be carried out using the AWIN Goat app. The app results in a clear visual output, which provides positive feedback on welfare conditions in comparison with a benchmark of a reference population. The protocol may be a valuable tool for both veterinarians and technicians and a self-assessment instrument for farmers.

Enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. in colonic biopsies of dogs: molecular, histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations.

Enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. have been described colonizing the large intestine and liver of healthy and symptomatic subjects and are thought to have a role in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The prevalence of enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. infection in dogs is largely unknown and to our knowledge there are no data about their potential pathogenic role. In light of these considerations, the aims of this study were (i) to assess the prevalence of enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. in colonic biopsies of symptomatic pet dogs and (ii) to evaluate a possible association between Helicobacter spp. colonization status (heavily colonized, poorly colonized and uncolonized biopsies) and histological lesions. Colonic biopsies from 27 pet dogs of different ages were evaluated by family Helicobacteraceae and enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. PCR, histology, and immunohistochemistry for the in situ detection of Helicobacter spp. organisms. 85% and 52% of colonic biopsies were positive by Helicobacteraceae and enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. PCR, respectively. Immunohistochemistry revealed Helicobacter spp. were localized both in the superficial mucus (55%) and within intestinal crypts (33%). Dogs with heavy enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. colonization were significantly younger and had a higher level of mucosal fibrosis/atrophy than dogs with uncolonized or poorly colonized biopsies (p<0.05). These findings contribute to widen current knowledge regarding canine enterohepatic Helicobacter spp., suggesting the infection is rather common in dogs and acquired at an early age. Furthermore, heavy colonization of colonic crypts is associated with chronic inflammatory lesions (fibrosis/atrophy), supporting the role of enterohepatic Helicobacter spp. in the development of canine IBD.

Survey on housing, management and welfare of dairy cattle in tie-stalls in western Italian Alps

In the Alps, the traditional breeding system for dairy cattle is based on the alternation between a free-ranging period on mountain ranges during the summer, and an indoor period in tie-stalls in the winter. Several welfare issues may arise in tie-stall housing systems. We describe the situation in 47 farms in three villages in western Italy, trying to identify possible relationships among structural and management characteristics, animal health and behaviour traits. A long duration of the grazing period, associated with frequent manure removal during the housing period, are probably key factors for limiting the occurrence of lameness. Teat trauma is more common in narrower stalls. Getting-up behaviour is unnatural in most of the visited farms. Some lack in the farmers’ knowledge of animal behaviour was noted. Some structural and management characteristics are strictly related to geographical constraints. However, circumstances permitting, some expedients may be achieved for improving welfare levels.

Factors affecting the duration of fights in fallow deer (Dama dama) during the rut

More than 500 male-male interactions were recorded in a population of 560 fallow deer in order to evaluate the importance of fight duration as an index of risk and benefit. Fight duration was affected by rank, presence or absence of parallel walk in the fight sequence and, to a lesser extent, presence of females. Higher-ranking bucks fought for longer than low-ranking ones, probably because parallel walks were more common during fights among high-ranking than lowranking bucks. The high level of competition in this population may explain why fights were shorter in the presence of does, which can be considered a shortterm resource: fighting for too long could mean a lost mating opportunity.

Results of testing the prototype of the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for dairy goats in 30 intensive farms in Northern Italy

Abstract The AWIN project aimed at developing an on-farm welfare assessment protocol for adult dairy goats. A prototype protocol was tested in 30 intensive dairy goat farms to evaluate its feasibility in farms of different size. Time for applying the prototype was recorded and any other constraint was taken into account. Moreover, data collected during the prototype testing provided information on the prevalence of welfare issues in intensive dairy goat farms in Northern Italy. The prototype included 25 animal-based indicators (14 group- and 11 individual-level indicators). The prototype showed a good on-farm feasibility and it was highly accepted among stakeholders, as its application did not interfere with the daily routine. Approximately 2 h were required for the application of the prototype. When feeding racks were available, using them for locking the animals during the individual assessment resulted advantageous to speed the data collection and to reduce handling stress to the goats and disturbance to the farmers. Farm size and different management systems influenced the prevalence of some indicators, with small farms in general better welfare conditions compared to larger farms. The results of the present study represent an important starting point to set up an epidemiological database that may lead to improve the welfare status of goats.

On-farm welfare assessment of dairy goat farms using animal-based indicators: the example of 30 commercial farms in Portugal

ABSTRACT Welfare assessment can play multiple roles in the path to welfare improvement. In the dairy goat area, identification of the main welfare problems across countries and different production systems is needed. By the application of a prototype welfare assessment protocol, based on animal-based indicators, we aimed to provide an insight into the main welfare problems affecting intensively kept dairy goats in Portugal. Thirty farms, organised in three size categories, were assessed. The main areas of concern were claw overgrowth, queuing at feeding and hindquarter dirtiness, with larger farms heading higher concerns. Additionally, this paper aimed to investigate indicators’ consistency over time. Ten of the 30 farms were revisited four months later, during which no major husbandry changes were made. Our results showed an overall consistency. This study can help define intervention thresholds or minimum legal levels for each indicator, by determining their overall prevalence.

Acoustic monitoring of golden jackals in Europe: setting the frame for future analyses

Abstract The golden jackal (Canis aureus) utters complex howls that can be used to monitor their population density and distribution in a specific area. However, little is known of the vocal behaviour of this species. In the present paper, we show the first results of the acoustic analysis that followed the acoustic monitoring of the golden jackal in Friuli–Venezia Giulia during 2011–2013. We estimated the number of callers by screening the fundamental frequency of the emissions within a howl. We analysed 42 vocalizations given by a single jackal or multiple individuals. The howling duration significantly increased with the number of emitters, which ranged between one and three in our estimates. Twenty-nine howls were then submitted to a quantitative semi-automatic analysis procedure based on dynamic time warping. Based on the resulting dissimilarity indices, vocal emissions were clustered in six different acoustically uniform groups, which showed a potential for these procedures to be developed into future monitoring tools. The results suggest the need for integration between jackal howling, bioacoustics and camera trapping.

An innovative tool for on-farm data collection and information sharing

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.