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New animal behaviour and welfare research reshapes livestock management

A new generation of animal behaviour and welfare research will increase productivity, reduce costs for the livestock industry and better accommodate animal needs, says Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, a beef welfare and behaviour scientist at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge Research Centre.

"In essence, it's ergonomics for livestock," says Schwartzkopf-Genswein. "As humans, we have learned to apply the science of ergonomics to our daily lives and job situations to avoid sickness and injury, and increase output. This same kind of thinking in animal production can have the same effect. In addition, it will play an essential role in helping meet society's expectations for animal welfare."

Animal behaviour and welfare sciences are relatively young research disciplines in Canada, says Schwartzkopf-Genswein. "These are areas of research in which the Europeans are well ahead of their Canadian counterparts. Scientists in the United Kingdom, Holland and Sweden have been working on alternate management practices for swine, poultry, dairy and beef for many years and have already incorporated their findings into on-farm regulations."

The study of animal behaviour has broad application for farm animal production including sexual, feeding and developmental behaviour, social structure, parent/offspring relationships, and coping with adversity, explains Schwartzkopf-Genswein. "The key to using this science to its full potential is to establish what normal behaviour is so we can detect abnormal behaviour and then make improvements in our management. Ultimately, a good understanding of behaviour is necessary for effective and economical animal production.

"We should also understand the difference between behaviour and welfare," says Schwartzkopf-Genswein. "The science of welfare describes how well or poorly an animal copes with its day to day life on the farm or in transport, for example. We can measure welfare by monitoring things such as mortality rates, physiological responses including elevated heart rate and stress hormones, degree of immunosuppression and abnormal behaviour. We actually use behaviour as a tool to help measure welfare.

"The biggest challenges for these sciences is gaining acceptance for the fact that they are measurable and that altering some of our management practices will have benefits for industry that show up in a business sense," says Schwartzkopf-Genswein.

Fine-tuning livestock operation management can increase productivity and reduce disease and injury, she says. "It also lessens the use of medication, such as antibiotics, and goes hand-in-hand with society's wish for food quality and safety."

There is also a global component to this. An example can be found in Europe, where industry has linked animal welfare to sustainable food production systems. Canada's animal husbandry standards must meet or exceed those of other countries so that we can remain competitive on a world market," she says.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre has a mandate to promote innovation for growth, maintain security of the food system and protect the health of the environment.

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