Forum :: 8th Expert Forum on Farm Animal Well-being
8th Expert Forum on Farm Animal Well-being, Niagara-on-the-Lake (Canada), 2015
While the dairy and beef industries focus on calves meeting key health measurements, animal behaviour and veterinary research suggests that farmers and veterinarians should consider the well-being of the calves a basic component of health. This and other factors impacting calf health were the focus of the 8th Boehringer Ingelheim Expert Forum on Farm Animal Well-being held in Ontario, Canada in June 2015.
The Forum brought together dairy and beef calf researchers, practitioners and other industry professionals to present new information on how to better manage the early stages of a calf’s life, especially from a calf’s perspective. Speakers also talked about new ways of measuring and mitigating pain, sustainable agriculture, consumer attitudes towards farming, and approaches to communicate learnings to farmers.
LECTURES
Measurements to assess pain in young calves
Dr. Joseph StookeyUniversity of Saskatchewan, Canada
Pain is a subjective state that can only be measured indirectly. In the recent years, much progress has been made in understanding calves’ behavior as an indicator of pain. If we learn to recognize pain in calves, we can not only measure it in research, we can also advise farmers on how they can recognize that their animals are in pain, both in beef and dairy.
It’s a hard knock life: Impacts of dystocia and the assessment of compromised calves
Dr. Claire WindeyerUniversity of Calgary, Canada
Parturition is a challenging process and a high-risk time for both the mother and her offspring. The quality of maternal care contributes to the motivation and success of the calf in performing neonatal behaviors that will lead to ingestion of colostrum.
Pain sensitivity and healing of hot-iron cattle brands
Dr. Cassandra TuckerUniversity of California, Davis, California, USA
In North America, hot iron branding is an important practice for extensively managed herds, where there is no alternative for a simple and permanent visual identification that is 100 % reliable. Since the procedure is undoubtedly painful, research has looked at what contributes to pain in hot-iron branding and at possible pain alleviation methods.
Stress at weaning
Dr. Derek HaleyUniversity of Guelph, Canada
For many young farm animals, separation from their mother occurs earlier than might happen naturally. This causes stress, which is independent of the dietary transition. Breaking the maternal bond is stressful to the calf, and may have an impact on immune function and thus disease susceptibility. Good weaning management will benefit the farmer, the calf and the cow.
What are the possible drivers for improving farm animal well-being?
Dr. Ed PajorUniversity of Calgary, Canada
Although animal welfare has been a historical concern for producers and society, its importance to animal agriculture and the scrutiny to which animal agricultural practices are under has never been greater and are only expected to increase in the future. The purpose of this presentation is to identify potential drivers for improving farm animal well-being.
How pain in young animals affects their ability to learn and respond to novelty
Dr. Dan WearyUniversity of British Columbia, Canada
Emotional responses in humans are associated with changes in cognitive functioning. Emotions have an effect on judgment making such as risk-taking, future expectations, and interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. Recent research has attempted to use changes in cognitive processes as a method of assessing emotions of animals.
Pain mitigation after castration of young calves and its effect on performance and behavior
Dr. John CampbellUniversity of Saskatchewan, Canada
Opinions on the optimal age for castration and the method of choice with regard to efficacy and minimization of pain and stress in the calf vary widely. By studying behavior and performance of the calf, research tries to identify the best method to mitigate pain.
What is the significance of considering the welfare of food-producing animals to the consumer?
Mr. Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-StilwellMcDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited
In January, 2014, McDonald’s made a commitment to begin sourcing a portion of their global beef supply from verified sustainable sources in 2016. They also committed to setting a global verified sustainable beef sourcing target for 2020. To inform those commitments McDonald’s launched a Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot project in Canada in 2014. The Pilot project will serve as a learning opportunity to understand how we can measure, verify, and communicate to consumers the sustainability of beef production.
Challenges of a growing niche market
Melissa DowningQuality Control Coordinator, Spring Creek Ranch
Animal welfare in food production has long been on the agenda for activists, but in recent years it has also become a trendy topic amongst general public. Social media has played a huge role in this trend and has triggered consumers to ask more questions about their food in general. The disconnect between food producers and consumers has become increasingly vast, presenting an opportunity for us to educate the public about the outstanding job ranchers do.