On-farm and post-mortem health assessment

Methods for animal welfare assessment are in constant evolution increasing the collection easiness and validity of animal welfare measures. The combination of on farm and at slaughter welfare assessment is fundamental to achieve a complete health assessment. The so-called ‘Precision Livestock Farming’ concept integrates computing and sensing technologies that allows recording numerous behavioural, physiological and metabolic data in livestock species. Additionally, experience from our own research and that of colleagues evidences the development of new animal-based measures of welfare that can be routinely assessed in an extensive range of contexts. The validation of indicators that can be used during meat inspection to assess health and other related issues is a good example of this. The expertise of vet pig practitioners and producers should be integrated with pig welfare research in order to improve the health of the animals. Therefore, knowledge exchange platforms that include the main actors in the pig production chain will be of paramount importance.