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Deborah Temple presents Poster 52 during the poster sessions in the Aula.
Session theme 5: Development and improvement of welfare assessment protocols
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Poster 52
DEVELOPING A WELFARE ASSESSMENT TOOL WITHIN THE
WELFARE QUALITY® PROJECT: THE CASE OF WEANERS AND
GROWING PIGS
D. Temple 1 , A. Dalmau 1 , V. Courboulay 2 , M.C. Meunier-Salaün 3 , A. Velarde 1
1 IRTA, Finca Camps i armet s/n, Monells(17121), Girona, Spain
2 IFIP, Institut du porc, BP 35104, 35651 Le Rheu cedex, France
3 INRA, UMR SENAH, Domaine de la Prise, 35590 Saint Gilles, France
An on-farm welfare assessment protocol was developed for weaners and growing pigs according to
the 4 animal welfare principles of the Welfare Quality® project. Eleven criteria related to good
feeding, good resting, good health and appropriate behaviour were defined and appropriate
measures elaborated.
Most of the criteria were assessed with animal-based measures, except absence of prolonged thirst
and ease of movement, that were environmental-based. The validity and repeatability between
observers of the measures were previously assessed.
Most measures were scored at pen/group level according to a three-point scale ranging from 0
(good welfare) to 2 (poor or unacceptable). According to the measure, pen score were established
directly (scouring, fear of humans) or took into account the proportion of pigs with scores 0, 1 and
2. Considering the lack of on-farm reference in some measures (behaviour, environmental
measurements), those are expressed as a sum of occurrence (behaviour, qualitative assessment) or
as a description (environment).
The welfare assessment protocol was carried out by one trained assessor on an average of 150 pigs
per farm, housed in 10 different pens/groups. Sixty farms, from extensive to intensive layout,
located in Spain and France were visited to assess the validity of the protocol. Around 8000 pigs
were directly assessed with the protocol for health measures, 9000 for qualitative behaviour
assessment, coughing and sneezing and 9000 for social and exploratory behaviour (from a total of
130 000 present in the farms). The visit of the farm lasted around six-eight hours.
This poster presents the preliminary results of this survey and the range of the different measures,
which may help in ¿proposing/amending? the scoring system and simplify the protocol.
Contact information: Deborah Temple or email antonio.velarde@irta.es
Complete address: Finca Camps i Armet s/n 17121, Monells, Girona, SPAIN
Species: Pig