Measuring general animal health status: Development of an animal health barometer

Depoorter, Pieter; Huffel, Xavier Van; Diricks, Herman; Imberechts, Hein; Dewulf, Jeroen; Berkvens, Dirk; Uyttendaele, Mieke

doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2014.12.008

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Systems for recording and measuring associations between these aspects have been investigated before. [32][33][34] For the further development of the Suissano programme, it is essential that AMU data are linked with a quantitative assessment of animal health and farm management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Suissano herds, the mandatory membership in the pig health service requires regular herd visits but a quantitative assessment of animal health in the herds has not yet been implemented. Systems for recording and measuring associations between these aspects have been investigated before 32–34. For the further development of the Suissano programme, it is essential that AMU data are linked with a quantitative assessment of animal health and farm management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of the Suissano Health Programme on antimicrobial usage on 291 pig farms in Switzerland

Echtermann

Müntener

Sidler

et al. 2020

Veterinary Record Open

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BackgroundIn 2015, in Switzerland the Suissano Health Programme was implemented in pig production to improve transparency for antimicrobial usage (AMU) and to reduce the usage of fluoroquinolones (FQ), macrolides and cephalosporins, representing highest priority critically important antimicrobials.MethodsIn the presented cohort study, the impact of the Suissano programme on the AMU of 291 pig farms between 2016 and 2017 was investigated. AMU was calculated in total numbers of defined course doses (nDCDch) for all farms in the programme. For each single farm the nDCDch/animal/year was determined for four different age categories (suckling piglets, weaned piglets, fattening pigs, sows) as well as each antimicrobial substance separately. Trends between 2016 and 2017 were investigated for all farms as well as the 25 per cent with the highest usage of antimicrobials (high users) separately.ResultsTotal AMU measured in nDCDch declined by 23 per cent between 2016 and 2017, but statistically significant differences could not be observed when comparing the data sets of the individual farms. A significantly reduced usage of FQ could be demonstrated in suckling piglets (P=0.003), weaned piglets (P=0.006) and sows (P=0.008) in 2017 compared with 2016. For high users, a significant reduction of total AMU could be shown in suckling piglets (P=0.02), weaned piglets (P=0.0004) and fattening pigs (P=0.01).ConclusionThis study demonstrated a significant reduction in the usage of FQs in suckling piglets, weaned piglets and sows as well as total AMU in suckling piglets, weaned piglets and fattening pigs on high-usage farms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the Suissano Health Programme on antimicrobial usage on 291 pig farms in Switzerland

Echtermann

Müntener

Sidler

et al. 2020

Veterinary Record Open

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“…The final category is the searching or foraging pattern (cluster Type 3), and this is characterized by short-distance movements over a wide geographic area with small turning angles [58]. The speed in the direction of movement in this pattern is low [60] and represents the kind of movement an animal makes when feeding or foraging.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Description of Behavioral Patterns Displayed by a Recently Weaned Cohort of Healthy Dairy Calves

Alawneh

Barreto

Bome

et al. 2020

Animals

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Animals display movement patterns that can be used as health indicators. The movement of dairy cattle can be characterized into three distinct cluster types. These are cluster type 1 (resting), cluster type 2 (traveling), and cluster type 3 (searching). This study aimed to analyze the movement patterns of healthy calves and assess the relationship between the variables that constitute the three cluster types. Eleven Holstein calves were fitted with GPS data loggers, which recorded their movement over a two week period during spring. The GPS data loggers captured longitude and latitude coordinates, distance, time and speed. It was found that the calves were most active during the afternoon and at night. Slight inconsistencies from previous studies were found in the cluster movements. Cluster type 2 (traveling) reported the fastest rate of movement, whereas cluster type 1 (resting) reported the slowest. These diverse movement patterns could be used to enhance the assessment of dairy animal health and welfare on farms.

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“…However, globally, the presence of diseases in the assessed farms could be considered low. On the other hand, mortality is an important indicator of herd health to monitor on a farm (17,27,28). In fact, in breeding rabbits, mortality is often due to infectious causes (17), and a reduction in this indicator represents an improvement in animal health (28).…”

Section: Good Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, mortality is an important indicator of herd health to monitor on a farm (17,27,28). In fact, in breeding rabbits, mortality is often due to infectious causes (17), and a reduction in this indicator represents an improvement in animal health (28). When monthly mortality in breeding does and bucks due to adverse health issues and injury exceeds 5%, it should be considered as an alarm signal (17).…”

Section: Good Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Does, Bucks, and Kit Rabbits Reared for Production

2020

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Rabbits are the third species in terms of number of animals reared for meat production in the world. However, in comparison to other species, very few studies have focused on their welfare. The aim of the present study is to implement an animal welfare-assessment protocol developed through a multidimensional approach and containing a number of animal-based measures for bucks, does, and kit rabbits. Thirty Spanish farms with conventional cages in the first year of integration in an animal welfare certification scheme were visited during 2019 and audited by the same auditor. The protocol is divided into four principles and 11 criteria. The Good Feeding principle includes eight parameters (one animal-based), Good Housing includes 15 parameters (six animal-based), Good Health includes 26 parameters (16 animal-based), and Appropriate Behavior contains nine parameters (four animal-based). In general, the main problems found were the absence of platforms, low space allowance and low height of the cage, inappropriate systems for performing emergency killing, insufficient protection of does from other adjacent does when housed individually, and absence of enrichment material. To a minor degree, but also found in an important number of farms, was a lack of temperature data records, high replacement rates of does, and lack of mortality-rate data records. However, in general, most of the farms obtained a good overall score, the maximum found being 73 out of 100 points. Nevertheless, none of the farms reached an excellent score, and four farms were scored below the 55 points required in the animal welfare certification scheme. The Good Feeding principle obtained the highest score, reaching excellent in all farms, and Appropriate Behavior the lowest one, with values ranging from 21 to 41 points out of 100. The results probably show how, for years, rabbit producers have been very focused on feeding needs and very little attention has been paid to behavioral needs.

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Measuring general animal health status: Development of an animal health barometer

Cited by 11 publications

References 8 publications

Impact of the Suissano Health Programme on antimicrobial usage on 291 pig farms in Switzerland

Impact of the Suissano Health Programme on antimicrobial usage on 291 pig farms in Switzerland

Description of Behavioral Patterns Displayed by a Recently Weaned Cohort of Healthy Dairy Calves

Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Does, Bucks, and Kit Rabbits Reared for Production

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