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Animal welfare is of increasing public interest, and the pig industry in particular is subject to much attention. The aim of this study was to identify and compare areas of animal welfare concern for commercial pigs in four different production stages: (1) gestating sows and gilts; (2) lactating sows; (3) piglets; and (4) weaner-to-finisher pigs. One welfare assessment protocol was developed for each stage, comprising of between 20 and 29 animal welfare measures including resource-, management- and animal-based ones. Twenty-one Danish farms were visited once between January 2015 and February 2016 in a cross-sectional design. Experts (n = 26; advisors, scientists and animal welfare controllers) assessed the severity of the outcome measures. This was combined with the on-farm prevalence of each measure and the outcome was used to calculate areas of concern, defined as measures where the median of all farms fell below the value defined as ‘acceptable welfare.’ Between five and seven areas of concern were identified for each production stage. With the exception of carpal lesions in piglets, all areas of concern were resource- and management-based and mainly related to housing, with inadequate available space and the floor type in the resting area being overall concerns across all production stages. This means that animal-based measures were largely unaffected by perceived deficits in resource-based measures. Great variation existed for the majority of measures identified as areas of concern, demonstrating that achieving a high welfare score is possible in the Danish system.

Dette bachelorprojekt analyserer implementeringen af den nye EU-forordning om veterinærlægemidler fra d. 28. januar 2022 og dens konsekvenser for danske dyrlæger, kaniner, kaninejere og det danske samfund som helhed. Projektet konkluderer, at forordningen vil have forskellige virkninger på tværs af EU-landene. I Sydeuropa vil brugen af antibiotika blive reduceret på grund af det generelt høje forbrug og den store produktion og forbrug af kaninkød. Dette vil effektivt bekæmpe udviklingen af antibiotikaresistente bakterier. I Danmark kan forordningen imidlertid føre til et større forbrug af antibiotika grundet det generelt lave forbrug, hvilket sætter det danske samfund i fare for antibiotikaresistente bakterier. Danske kælekaniner skal lovmæssigt betragtes som produktionsdyr, hvilket begrænser deres behandlingsmuligheder væsentligt, og skaber et dilemma når det kommer til deres mave-tarmflora, der kræver en bredspektret tilgang til antibiotikabehandling. Danske dyrlæger står over for udfordringen med at balancere EU-forordningen og Dyreværnsloven i forbindelse med behandlingen af kaniner, samtidig med at de ikke må afvige fra lægemidlets produktresumé. For danske dyrlæger er det således et spørgsmål om at vælge mellem at følge EUlovgivningen eller prioritere dyrevelfærd, når det kommer til behandling af danske kælekaniner., This bachelor project examines the implementation of the new EU regulation on veterinary medicinal products, which came into effect on January 28th 2022, and its implications for Danish veterinarians, rabbits, rabbit owners and Danish society. The study highlights that the consequences of the regulation will vary across EU countries. In Southern Europe, the use of antibiotics is expected to decrease due to high overall consumption and the substantial production and consumption of rabbit meat, effectively curbing the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In Denmark, however, the regulation may result in an increased consumption of antibiotics due to the country’s generally low antibiotic usage. This situation poses a risk to Danish society, as it may contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Additionally, the classification of Danish pet rabbits as production animals under the law imposes significant limitations on their treatment options. This classification creates a dilemma, particularly regarding their gastrointestinal flora, which necessitates a broad-spectrum approach to antibiotic treatment. Danish veterinarians face the challenge of reconciling the EU regulation with the Animal Welfare Act when treating rabbits. Furthermore, they must ensure compliance with the medicine’s product summary. Consequently, Danish veterinarians are confronted with a decision between adhering to EU legislation or prioritizing animal welfare in the treatment of Danish pet rabbits.

BACKGROUND: Rearing replacement heifers is pivotal for the dairy industry and is associated with high input costs for the preweaned calves, due to their higher susceptibility to diseases. Ensuring calf health and viability calls for systematic approaches in order to mitigate the costs induced by managing sick calves and to ensure animal welfare. The objective of this study was to develop a systematic and feasible health-monitoring tool for bovine dairy calves based on repeated clinical observations and diagnostic results of calves at three time points; the 1st (T0), the 3rd (T1) and the 12th (T3) week of age. The study included observations from 77 dairy heifer calves in nine Danish commercial dairy herds. Immunisation status was assessed by serum Brix% at T0. Clinical scoring included gastrointestinal disease (GD) and respiratory disease (RD). The average daily weight gain (ADWG) was estimated from heart-girth measurements. Pathogen detection from nasal swabs and faecal samples were analysed for 16 respiratory and enteric pathogens by means of high-throughput real time-PCR. All measures obtained in each herd were visualised in a panel to follow the health status of each calf over time.RESULTS: The individual clinical observations combined with diagnostic information from immunisation and pathogen detection form each enrolled calf are presented in a herd dashboard illustrating the health status over the study period. This monitoring revealed failure of passive transfer (Brix% < 8.1) in 31% of the 77 enrolled calves, signs of severe GD peaked at T0 with 20% affected calves, while signs of severe RD peaked at T2 with 42% affected calves. ADWG over the first eight weeks was estimated to be 760 g (± 190 g). Pathogen profiles varied between herds.CONCLUSIONS: The large variation in both clinical disease and pathogen occurrence across herds emphasizes the need for herd specific monitoring. Combining the results of the present study from measures of imm

Control of infectious diseases in livestock has often been motivated by food safety concerns and the economic impact on livestock production. However, diseases may also affect animal welfare. We present an approach to quantify the effect of five infectious diseases on animal welfare in cattle (three diseases) and pigs (two diseases). We grouped clinical manifestations that often occur together into lists of clinical entities for each disease based on literature reviews, and subsequently estimated “suffering scores” based on an aggregation of duration, frequency, and severity. The duration and severity were based on literature reviews and expert knowledge elicitation, while frequency was based mainly on estimates from the literature. The resulting suffering scores were compared to scores from common welfare hazards found under Danish conditions. Most notably, the suffering scores for cattle diseases were ranked as: bovine viral diarrhoea and infection with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis > infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, and for pigs as: porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome > Aujeszky’s disease. The approach has limitations due to the limited data available in literature and uncertainties associated with expert knowledge, but it can provide decision makers with a tool to quantify the impact of infections on animal welfare given these uncertainties

Assessing emotional states of dairy calves is an essential part of welfare assessment, but standardized protocols are absent. The present study aims at assessing the emotional states of dairy calves and establishing a reliable standard procedure with Qualitative Behavioral Assessment (QBA) and 20 defined terms. Video material was used to compare multiple observer results. Further, live observations were performed on 49 dairy herds in Denmark and Italy. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) identified observer agreement and QBA dimensions (PC). For achieving overall welfare judgment, PC1-scores were turned into theWelfare Quality (WQ) criterion ‘Positive Emotional State’. Finally, farm factors’ influence on the WQ criterion was evaluated by mixed linear models. PCA summarized QBA descriptors as PC1 ‘Valence’ and PC2 ‘Arousal’ (explained variation 40.3% and 13.3%). The highest positive descriptor loadings on PC1 was Happy (0.92) and Nervous (0.72) on PC2. The WQ-criterion score (WQ-C12) was on average 51.1 ± 9.0 points (0: Worst to 100: Excellent state) and ‘Number of calves’, ‘Farming style’, and ‘Breed’ explained 18% of the variability of it. We conclude that the 20 terms achieved a high portion of explained variation providing a differentiated view on the emotional state of calves. The defined term list proved to need good training for observer agreement.

The present study seeks to investigate the influence of expert affiliation in the weighing procedures within animal welfare assessments. Experts are often gathered with different backgrounds with differing approaches to animal welfare posing a potential pitfall if affiliation groups are not balanced in numbers of experts. At two time points (2012 and 2016), dairy cattle and swine experts from four different stakeholder groups, namely researchers (RES), production advisors (CONS), practicing veterinarians (VET) and animal welfare control officers (AWC) were asked to weigh eight different welfare criteria: Hunger, Thirst, Resting comfort, Ease of movement, Injuries, Disease, Human-animal bond and Emotional state. A total of 54 dairy cattle experts (RES = 15%, CONS = 22%, VET = 35%, AWC = 28%) and 34 swine experts (RES = 24%, CONS = 35%, AWC = 41%) participated. Between—and within—group differences in the prioritization of criteria were assessed. AWC cattle experts differed consistently from the other cattle expert groups but only significantly for the criteria Hunger (p = 0.04), and tendencies towards significance within the criteria Thirst (p = 0.06). No significant differences were found between expert groups among swine experts. Inter-expert differences were more pronounced for both species. The results highlight the challenges of using expert weightings in aggregated welfare assessment models, as the choice of expert affiliation may play a confounding role in the final aggregation due to different prioritization of criteria.

Afhorning af kalve er en smertefuld procedure, men er stadig normal procedure i danske malkekvægsbesætninger. Manglen på studier omkring behandling med NSAIDs i en længere periode efter afhorning, har dannet grundlag for dette studie. Hvis smerten efter afhorning kan reducers, kan kalvenes velfærd, og muligvis tilvækst forbedres. Formål: Studie er designet som et dobbeltblændet case-control studie på Dansk Holstein kalve, som fokuserer på de dyre-baserede indikatorer vægt, og adfærd som udtryk for velfærd. Studiet evaluerer effekten af fire dages behandling med meloxicam, på tilvæksten og adfærd efter afhorning, sammenlignet med en enkelt behandling omkring afhorningstidspunktet. Metode: 56 kalve var inkluderet i studiet. Alle kalvene blev vejet og observeret dagen før afhorning, for etablering af en standardadfærd og -vægt til sammenligning med observationer fra de følgende dage. Kalvene blev parret, efter vægt og alder. Alle kalve blev afhornet med brændejern under sedation, og med brug af lokalanaestesi og meloxicam. Kalve i behandlingsgruppen blev behandlet med meloxicam de efterfølgende tre dage. Kalvene blev observeret 30 min. før- og 60 min. efter fording, i fire dage efter afhorning, og vejet igen på dag 4 og 14. Resultater: Studiet fandt øget tilvækst i behandlingsgruppen mellem dag -1 og 4. Overordnet fandtes significant øgning i mængden af smertespecifik adfærd på dag 1, hvilket viser at meloxicam ikke dækker smarten efter afhorning tilstrækkeligt. Behandlingsgruppen udtrykte significant lavere mængde af smerteadfærd og smerte-ansigt på dag 3, og øget legeadfærd, sammenlignet med control gruppen. Kalve i behandlingsgruppen brugte også mindre tid på at hvile og mere til på orale abnormaliteter på dag 3 og 4, sammenlignet med kontrolgruppen. Konklusion: Fire dages meloxicambehandling efter afhorning, nedsætter smerte-relateret adfærd og æger tilvækst, legeadfærd og oral abnormaliteter, gennem de første fire dage efter proceduren. Den fordelagtig, Disbudding of calves has proven to be a painful procedure, but is still a common practice in Danish milk-producing herds. The lack of evidence on the effect of repeated treatments with NSAIDs in the period after disbudding constitutes the basis for this current study. Reducing post-surgical pain would increase the welfare of the calves, and potentially increase their weight gain. Aim of the study: This study is carried out as a double blinded case-control study on Danish Holstein calves, focusing on the animal-based indicators of welfare, weight and behaviour. The study evaluates the weight gain and behaviours of calves treated with meloxicam for four days following disbudding, compared to calves treated only on the day of disbudding. Methods: 56 calves were included in the study. One day prior to disbudding, all calves were weighed and observed for 90 minutes in total, to establish a baseline value of behaviour and weight. Calves were paired by weight and age. All calves were disbudded by heat cauterization on day 0, using sedation, local anaesthetic and meloxicam. The following 3 days, calves allocated to the treatment group received treatment with meloxicam, while the control calves did not receive any treatment. All calves were continuously observed for 30 minutes prior to-, and 60 minutes after milk feeding, for 4 days after disbudding, and weighed on day 4, and day 14. Results: The study found and increased weight gain during day -1-4 for the treatment group. Furthermore, the study found an overall increase in pain specific behaviours on day 1, suggesting an insufficient coverage of the pain from disbudding by the NSAID treatment. However, the treatment group expressed significantly lower numbers of pain specific behaviours and pain face on day 3, in addition to an increased amount of time spent playing, compared to the control group. The calves in the treatment group spent significantly more time on oral abnormalities and less time on resting, on