Don t fence me in? The welfare of cattle in feedlots

Transcription

1 Don t fence me in? The welfare of cattle in feedlots Rebecca Doyle

2 Why is cattle welfare important? 2

3 Why is cattle welfare important? Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 3

4 Why is cattle welfare important? Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 4

5 Why is cattle welfare important? Social licence to operate Adjusting to the feedlot environment Production and profitability Animal sentience Human animal interactions Cattle perception of their environment? 5

6 Adjusting to the feedlot environment The novelty paradox 6

7 Adjusting to the feedlot environment Fear = stress response Adrenaline & Cortisol Metabolic changes = depletion of fat, carbohydrate and muscle stores Growth reduces Meat quality reduces Immune function inhibited Disease susceptibility increases 7

8 Adjusting to the feedlot environment Temperament: A set of relatively stable and genetically based characteristics that reflect internal nature and reaction to external stimuli Temperament will influence how an animal responds to the feedlot environment Flight speed Chute score Restraint test Hair whorls Production and profitability Social licence to operate Animal sentience 8

9 Adjusting to the feedlot environment Calm cattle have better FCR and ADG than excitable cattle Excitable animals tend to have smaller carcasses, less fat, darker meat, increased muscle ph Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 9

10 Flight speed (m/s) The Animal Welfare Adjusting to the feedlot environment Cafe et al. (2011) Journal of Animal Science 3 Paddock Feedlot Brahman Angus Day 10

11 Average daily gain (kg/d) The Animal Welfare Adjusting to the feedlot environment Petherick et al. (2002) Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture Poor Mixed Good Day 11

12 Crush score (1-5) The Animal Welfare Adjusting to the feedlot environment Cafe et al. (2011) Journal of Animal Science 3 Paddock Feedlot Brahman Angus Day 12

13 Human - animal interactions How we handle animals affects their performance and welfare Flight zone as a measure of welfare Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 13

14 Closest approach The Animal Welfare Human - animal interactions Petherick et al. (2009) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Backgrounding Feedlot Good Poor Minimal 14

15 Human - animal interactions Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 15

16 Cattle perception of their environment? How important are resources/environments to animals? Social licence to operate Production and profitability Animal sentience 16

17 Lee et al. (2013) Applied Animal Behaviour Science Pasture Feedlot

18 Conclusions Clear evidence of temperament influencing production in feedlots, strong effect of breed Human-animal relationships are crucial to cattle welfare, but more research is needed for effects on production to be clearly elucidated Production and profitability Social licence to operate Animal sentience Proactively addressing cattle welfare will benefit cattle, production and industry sustainability 18

19 Rebecca Doyle Research Fellow Animal Welfare 19