Introduction to Animal Welfare and the Sheep

Dwyer, CM; Lawrence, Alistair B.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8553-6_1

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Behaviour in the IBT reflects temperament and in this context vocalisations are reflective of fear in isolation, and a desire to re-establish social contact (Boissy 1995;Boissy et al 2005). Vocalisations are used by sheep to locate and recognise conspecifics (Dwyer and Lawrence 2008), but in the current study contact was not associated with frequency of vocalisations, as according to the MMMC model the more vocal sheep did not necessarily spend more time with all sheep. Rather sheep with a similar reaction during isolation were more likely to spend time together; reflecting a preference for increased social interactions between sheep with a similar reaction during isolation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock

Doyle

Broster

Barnes

et al. 2016

Behavioural Processes

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Please cite this article as: Doyle, Rebecca E., Broster, John C., Barnes, Kirsty, Browne, William J., Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock.Behavioural Processes http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.beproc.2016.08.004 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Highlights: Sheep appear to have temperament-related social preference for specific individuals within a flock. Age, rainfall and temperature all affected social interactions of the sheep flock. Vocalisations and movement scores in the isolation box test are well correlated over time, but the two types of behaviours were poorly correlated with each other, suggesting they reflect different things. Multiple Membership Multiple Classification modelling is a useful way to analyse social structures of the flock and make predictions on how animal or environment circumstances affect social behaviour. AbstractThe aim of the current study was to investigate the social relationships between individual sheep, and factors that influence this, through the novel application of the statistical multiple

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock

Doyle

Broster

Barnes

et al. 2016

Behavioural Processes

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“…It is important to mention that the commercial conditions in the feedlot are far from the experimental controlled environment imposed in the present study (single housing in pens), where the movement and social interaction of the lambs was limited. These circumstances might have resulted in negative consequences on animal welfare [ 24 ], even though they could see, hear and touch the individuals of the next pens. Therefore, the results described previously might not be completely extrapolated to industrial conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Birth Weight on Animal Performance, Fattening Traits and Meat Quality of Lambs

Andrés

Valdés

Santos

et al. 2020

Animals

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Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a key developmental programming factor which might impair both the feed efficiency of lambs and meat quality, since it deeply impacts skeletal muscle and adipose tissue development. To determine the effect of birth weight on the growth performance, ruminal parameters, digestibility, non-carcass components, carcass traits, physicochemical characteristics and fatty acid profile of meat, two experimental groups (six animals in each group) of male Merino lambs with different body weights (BW) at birth (low BW (LW; 3.88 ± 0.281 kg) and high BW (HW; 5.80 ± 0.647 kg)) were used. The lambs were penned with their corresponding ewe during the natural suckling period, being weaned at 15 kg. Then, the lambs were penned individually and offered a complete pelleted diet during the fattening period. All the animals were slaughtered when they reached 27 kg of BW. After weaning, both daily dry matter intake (578 vs. 615 g/day; p = 0.021) and average daily gain (141 vs. 190 g/day; p = 0.004) were significantly lower in LW lambs, and a higher feed:gain ratio was recorded for this group (3.98 vs. 3.45; p = 0.008). Carcass traits did not show differences (p > 0.05) between both groups of lambs, except for higher chilling losses for the LW group (3.29 vs. 2.69%; p = 0.012). Additionally, higher amounts of kidney knob and channel fat were observed for LW lambs (85.4 vs. 152 g; p = 0.028). Apart from a higher hardness of meat in LW lambs (152 vs. 189 Newtons, p = 0.040), no other differences (p > 0.05) were observed in the physicochemical traits of this product; however, the meat of LW lambs tended (p = 0.057) to contain more total fatty acid content with a higher (p = 0.041) proportion of saturated fatty acids than the meat of HW lambs. In conclusion, under the conditions of the present study, a low body weight at birth increased the deposition of fat in carcass and non-carcass components during the fattening period of lambs, thus reducing animal performance and worsening the nutritional indexes of the meat. Accordingly, it seems reasonable to try to identify these animals during early life, to be sold as suckling lambs in the meat market instead of being fattened.

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“…Extensive sheep production systems allow sheep to live in a more natural environment and to perform an extensive amount of natural behaviours. Under these systems, and when resources are available, sheep have more choice in, and control over their day to day activities, such as grazing, ruminating and socially interacting with conspecifics [1,2], all of which can be indicative of good sheep welfare [3]. Although behaviour is not restricted, extensive farm systems create other environmental risks to welfare such as the possibility of predation, variable quantity and quality of feed and water and climatic extremes [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive attitudes, positive outcomes: The relationship between farmer attitudes, management behaviour and sheep welfare

et al. 2019

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This study examined the relationships between the attitudes and the management behaviour of the farmer and the on-farm welfare of their ewes. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating these relationships in extensive sheep farming systems. Thirty-two sheep farmers and 6200 ewes were sampled across Victoria, Australia. Questionnaire interviews and on-farm animal welfare assessments were conducted. The ewes were assessed at two-time points, mid-pregnancy and weaning. To examine relationships between farmer and ewe variables, categorical principal component analyses, correlations and logistic regressions were used. The main findings of this study indicate relationships between farmer attitudes and management behaviour, consistent with findings from other more intensive livestock industries. Farmers were more likely to check the body condition of their ewes (Odds ratio = 2.37, P = 0.03), perform ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis (Odds ratio = 1.16, P = 0.02) and test for egg count before deworming sheep (Odds ratio = 2.88, P = 0.01) if they perceived these activities were important/valuable. In addition, farmers that performed these activities had a more active management style, and ewes in better welfare: fewer lame ewes at mid-pregnancy (r = -0.38 P = 0.04), and fewer ewes in need of further care at mid-pregnancy and weaning respectively (r = -0.47, P = 0.01; r = -0.50, P = 0.01). When combining the qualitative and quantitative analyses, behavioural attitudes (attitudes towards specific management behaviours) and perceived behavioural control (perceived barriers to performing the behaviour) emerged as the two main drivers underpinning farmer management behaviour. The results of this study indicate that the way farmers manage their ewes influences welfare outcomes, and management decisions are influenced by attitudes towards management practices. These findings demonstrate the opportunity to create change in farmer management behaviour and improve sheep welfare via targeted education programs.

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Introduction to Animal Welfare and the Sheep

Cited by 14 publications

References 100 publications

Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock

Temperament, age and weather predict social interaction in the sheep flock

Effects of Birth Weight on Animal Performance, Fattening Traits and Meat Quality of Lambs

Positive attitudes, positive outcomes: The relationship between farmer attitudes, management behaviour and sheep welfare

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