Welfare measurements of finishing pigs on the day of slaughter: A review
Animal welfare on the day of slaughter is of increasing concern to the authorities and consumers alike, creating a need not only to optimize the welfare of the animals but also to document the level of welfare. The day of slaughter is composed of a variety of stages, initiated when the pigs leave the home […]
Predicting time spent on different behavioural activities from physicochemical properties of fibrous diets in finishing pigs
The objective of the present study was to predict time spent on different behavioural activities by finishing pigs, using physicochemical measurements of fibrous feed. Eighty four Large White × Landrace barrows with 80.5 ± 4.7 kg body weight (BW) at the beginning of the experiment were used. Feed varying in physicochemical properties was fed to […]
The associations between animal-based welfare measures and the presence of indicators of food safety in finishing pigs
Stressful housing and management practices affect animals, potentially increasing their receptiveness to pathogens. Since some pathogens do not lead to clinical signs of sickness, subclinical pigs could enter the food-chain, contaminating carcases and offal at slaughter, representing a threat to human health. Here, we assess the feasibility of a new approach (using animal-based welfare outcomes) […]
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AND WELL-BEING SYMPOSIUM: The Common Swine Industry Audit: Future steps to assure positive on-farm animal welfare utilizing validated, repeatable and feasible animal-based measures
The Common Swine Industry Audit (CSIA) was developed and scientifically evaluated through the combined efforts of a task force consisting of university scientists, veterinarians, pork producers, packers, processers, and retail and food service personnel to provide stakeholders throughout the pork chain with a consistent, reliable, and verifiable system to ensure on-farm swine welfare and food […]