Animal welfare and sustainable livestock production

Abstract

This paper describes the basic principles of animal behavior and how these concepts can be applied to the management and care of domestic species in a sustainable way. Several examples are given as to how an understanding of animal behavior can be utilized to improve animal productivity and welfare while also solving problems at the farm. The following topics are briefly covered: adoption of orphaned animals, explaining how to replace dead lambs and add extra lambs to ewes with single births; severing of the mother-offspring (cow-calf) relationship by different weaning methods focusing on stress reduction while reproductive and productive performance are improved; design of installations to facilitate management and how to use this knowledge in the design of facilities conducive to moving cattle efficiently, thus, diminishing the risk of injury to humans and animals alike; behavior of sick animals, explaining the physiological processes they use to regain their homeostasis, and how these behavioral changes can be used to predict certain illnesses even before clinical symptoms appear, and to judge the magnitude of pain felt by a given individual. A final section touches on some miscellaneous aspects of management relevant to animal productivity.