SI4 - Animal welfare

• Animal welfare refers to the wellbeing of an animal.
• farmers need to consider the cost, benefits and ethics of providing different levels of animal welfare in livestock production.
• free range requires more land and is more labour intensive but can be sold at a higher price and animals have a better quality of life.
• intensive farming often creates conditions of poor animal welfare but is often more cost-effective, generating higher profit as costs are low.
• intensive farming is less ethical than free range farming due to poor animal welfare
• Behavioral indicators of poor animal welfare.

  • stereotypy
  • misdirected behavior
  • failure in sexual or parental behavior
  • altered levels of activity
• stereotypy is the persistent repetition of an act by an animal, for no obvious purpose, examples include pacing, rocking, tongue rolling, and object licking.
• A misdirected behavior is one where a normal pattern of behavior is directed inappropriately towards the animal itself, another animal or its surounding
• It is a common occurrence in animals kept in confinement or isolation
• Examples include excessive licking, feather pecking, and tail biting.
• Animals may stop demonstrating mating behaviors such a seeking out mating partners they may also stop being physicological cable of mating.
• males are often separated from females and their young and are removed from parenting.
• females may reject their offspring, act aggressively towards them or kill and eat them. some may steal the young from other females.
• very low levels of activity are known as apathy
• this could be shown by animals lying, sitting or standing in the same position for long lengths of time.
• very high levels of activity are known as hysteria
• this could be shown by lots of movement or by animals being easily alarmed or panicky