Page 50 of articles about behaviour-welfare

    Germany - Abandonment of piglet castration is approaching

    23-Nov-2010
    An abandonment of piglet castration is approaching. Specialists believe that rearing the entire population of young boars is the best way to permanently abandon the practice of castrating male piglets without anaesthesia right across the board. That is the main conclusion reached by the expert workshop "Abandonment of piglet castration – status and perspectives" held by the Fed-eral Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection together with QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH on 11 November, 2010 in Berlin.

    The impact of chronic environmental stressors on growing pigs: stress physiology, production and play behaviour

    22-Nov-2010
    Commercially farmed animals are frequently housed in conditions that impose a number of concurrent environmental stressors. For pigs housed indoors, elevated levels of mechanical noise, atmospheric ammonia and low light intensities are commonplace. This experiment examined the effects on growing pigs of chronic exposure to combinations of commercially relevant levels of these potential stressors.

    European Union - Commission publishes report on the application of the Farm Advisory System

    19-Nov-2010
    Member States have the obligation to establish a system for advising farmers on land and farm management, the so-called Farm Advisory System (FAS). It is a major component of the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform and had to be introduced by 2007. The objective of the FAS is to help farmers to become more aware of on-farm processes relating to the environment, food safety and animal health and welfare.

    Farming systems and environment: Effects of available surface on gaseous emissions from group-housed gestating sows kept on deep litter

    15-Nov-2010
    In the European Union, the group-housed pregnant sows have to have a minimal legal available area of 2.25 m2/sow. However, it has been observed that an increased space allowance reduces agonistic behaviour and consecutive wounds and thus induces better welfare conditions. But, what about the environmental impacts of this greater available area?

    DLG/BFL-Special show "Sow well-being - in group housing"

    08-Nov-2010
    As of January 1, 2013 all gestating sows in the EU will have to be kept in group housing systems. Some pig producers have already made the switch to group housing but many still are still considering. For those still undecided, EuroTier 2010 comes at the ideal time to help producers make this strategic decision.