Integrating Nutrition and Animal Welfare in Extensive Systems

Villalba, Juan J.; Manteca, Xavier; Vercoe, Phil; Maloney, Shane K.; Blache, Dominique

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-27356-3_7

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 165 publications

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“…The welfare of goats is preserved under extensive systems in a natural environment, and the goats thrive by efficiently using the natural resources. However, the uncertainty of the environmental variables in association with human management practices may not cater to all the needs of the goats, and welfare issues may arise in an extensive system [ 104 ]. Therefore, goats selected for an extensive production system should be adapted for the particular environmental conditions to perform well with few welfare problems [ 91 ].…”

Section: Effect Of the Production Systems On Welfare Of Goatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations

Sejian

Silpa

Nair

et al. 2021

Animals

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This review attempted to collate and synthesize information on goat welfare and production constraints during heat stress exposure. Among the farm animals, goats arguably are considered the best-suited animals to survive in tropical climates. Heat stress was found to negatively influence growth, milk and meat production and compromised the immune response, thereby significantly reducing goats’ welfare under extensive conditions and transportation. Although considered extremely adapted to tropical climates, their production can be compromised to cope with heat stress. Therefore, information on goat adaptation and production performance during heat exposure could help assess their welfare. Such information would be valuable as the farming communities are often struggling in their efforts to assess animal welfare, especially in tropical regions. Broadly three aspects must be considered to ensure appropriate welfare in goats, and these include (i) housing and environment; (ii) breeding and genetics and (iii) handling and transport. Apart from these, there are a few other negative welfare factors in goat rearing, which differ across the production system being followed. Such negative practices are predominant in extensive systems and include nutritional stress, limited supply of good quality water, climatic extremes, parasitic infestation and lameness, culminating in low production, reproduction and high mortality rates. Broadly two types of methodologies are available to assess welfare in goats in these systems: (i) animal-based measures include behavioral measurements, health and production records and disease symptoms; (ii) resources based and management-based measures include stocking density, manpower, housing conditions and health plans. Goat welfare could be assessed based on several indicators covering behavioral, physical, physiological and productive responses. The important indicators of goat welfare include agonistic behavior, vocalization, skin temperature, body condition score (BCS), hair coat conditions, rectal temperature, respiration rate, heart rate, sweating, reduced growth, reduced milk production and reduced reproductive efficiency. There are also different approaches available by which the welfare of goats could be assessed, such as naturalistic, functional and subjective approaches. Thus, assessing welfare in goats at every production stage is a prerequisite for ensuring appropriate production in this all-important species to guarantee optimum returns to the marginal and subsistence farmers.

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Section: Effect Of the Production Systems On Welfare Of Goatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations

Sejian

Silpa

Nair

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…Problems associated, for instance, with poor quality pastures that have strong implications for animal nutrition are one example. For example, undernutrition has significant impacts on pregnant ewes or goats [ 5 , 7 , 8 ], care at lambing, and neonatal mortality [ 9 , 10 ] or disease control [ 11 ]. Furthermore, on such systems, due to their frequently remote locations, animal monitoring is much more challenging to implement than in intensive production systems with confined animals [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

Silva

Sacarrão-Birrento

Almeida

et al. 2022

Animals

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Sheep and goat extensive production systems are very important in the context of global food security and the use of rangelands that have no alternative agricultural use. In such systems, there are enormous challenges to address. These include, for instance, classical production issues, such as nutrition or reproduction, as well as carbon-efficient systems within the climate-change context. An adequate response to these issues is determinant to economic and environmental sustainability. The answers to such problems need to combine efficiently not only the classical production aspects, but also the increasingly important health, welfare, and environmental aspects in an integrated fashion. The purpose of the study was to review the application of technological developments, in addition to remote-sensing in tandem with other state-of-the-art techniques that could be used within the framework of extensive production systems of sheep and goats and their impact on nutrition, production, and ultimately, the welfare of these species. In addition to precision livestock farming (PLF), these include other relevant technologies, namely omics and other areas of relevance in small-ruminant extensive production: heat stress, colostrum intake, passive immunity, newborn survival, biomarkers of metabolic disease diagnosis, and parasite resistance breeding. This work shows the substantial, dynamic nature of the scientific community to contribute to solutions that make extensive production systems of sheep and goats more sustainable, efficient, and aligned with current concerns with the environment and welfare.

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“…It is clear that the Five Domains Model applies to animals kept in confinement under intensive livestock production systems, but the approach is equally relevant to herbivores grazing in extensive systems, as all states identified in the model are crucial for the maintenance of their welfare, even when animals evolved and are presumably adapted to their “natural” grazing environments. In several instances, the natural environment negatively impacts animal welfare due to its inherent temporal and spatial variability, which may lead to unsuccessful coping responses to unpredictable and ever-changing challenges (10, 11). With regards to the grazing process, climate variability has significant negative effects on herbivores, particularly for dryland regions with low and variable precipitation and high temperatures in the growing season (12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The aforementioned inherent variability of rangelands and the potential negative impacts on the nutrition and welfare of herbivores has been extensively reviewed elsewhere [e.g., (19) and papers in that book]. This review was developed with the aim of looking at variability in rangelands from a different angle, i.e., as a force that may potentially bring about greater adaptation and resiliency for animals grazing in the complex chemical and structural realm of rangelands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case for Eustress in Grazing Animals

Villalba

Manteca

2019

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Herbivores grazing in extensive systems are exposed to a series of challenges, rooted in the inherent spatial and temporal variability of their environment that potentially constrain their health, nutrition, and welfare. Nevertheless, in this review, we argue that challenges induced by some biotic (e.g., vegetation) and abiotic (e.g., terrain) factors may also be viewed as “positive” sources of stress or eustress, since they present complex problems, that when solved successfully elicit a greater degree of behavioral plasticity and adaptability in grazing animals. Chemically and structurally diverse landscapes require animals to display complex behaviors and exhibit adaptive capabilities, like building a balanced and safe diet or finding shelter, which ultimately lead to positive emotional states. Thus, maintaining or enhancing the diversity occurring in natural systems represent a management approach that can be used to improve welfare and prepare the animal for an efficient adaptation to future, and potentially unknown, environmental challenges.

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Integrating Nutrition and Animal Welfare in Extensive Systems

Cited by 10 publications

References 165 publications

Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations

Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations

Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

A Case for Eustress in Grazing Animals

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