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1.
This paper considers (potentially) harmful consequences of transgenesis for farm animal welfare and examines the strategy of studying health and welfare of transgenic farm animals. Evidence is discussed showing that treatments imposed in the context of farm animal transgenesis are by no means biologically neutral and may compromise animal health and welfare. Factors posing a risk for the welfare of transgenic farm animals include integration of a transgene within an endogenous gene with possible loss of host gene function (insertional mutations), inappropriate transgene expression and exposure of the host to biologically active transgene-derived proteins, and in vitro reproductive technologies employed in the process of generating transgenic farm animals that may result in an increased incidence of difficult parturition and fetal and neonatal losses and the development of unusually large or otherwise abnormal offspring (large offspring syndrome). Critical components of a scheme for evaluating welfare of transgenic farm animals are identified, related to specific characteristics of transgenic animals and to factors that may interact with the effects of transgenesis. The feasibility of an evaluation of welfare of transgenic farm animals in practice is addressed against the background of the objectives and conditions of three successive stages in a long-term transgenic program. Concrete steps with regard to breeding and testing of transgenic farm animals are presented, considering three technologies to generate transgenic founders: microinjection, electroporation and nuclear transfer, and gene targeting including gene knockout. The proposed steps allow for unbiased estimations of the essential treatment effects, including hemi- and homozygous transgene effects as well as effects of in vitro reproductive technologies. It is suggested that the implementation of appropriate breeding and testing procedures should be accompanied by the use of a comprehensive welfare protocol, specifying which parameters to monitor, at which stages of the life of a farm animal, and in how many animals. Some prerequisites and ideas for such a protocol are given. It is anticipated that systematic research into the welfare of farm animals involved in transgenesis will facilitate the use of the safest experimental protocols as well as the selection and propagation of the healthiest animals and, thereby, enable technological progress that could be ethically justified.  相似文献   

2.
Animals in the wild are facing a wide variety of challenges and ever-changing environmental stimuli. For successful coping, animals use both innate behavioural programs and their cognitive skills. In contrast, zoo- and farm animals have to cope with restricted husbandry conditions, which offer only few opportunities to adequately satisfy their various needs. Consequences could be sensory and cognitive underchallenge that can cause boredom and frustration as well as behavioural disturbances. Initially intended for improvement of management and husbandry, different forms of operant behavioural training have been applied firstly in zoo- and later also in farm animals. It has been suggested that successful coping with appropriate cognitive challenges is a source of positive emotions and may lead to improved welfare. Under the term cognitive enrichment, new approaches have been developed to integrate cognitive challenges into the housing of zoo- and farm animals. The present article reviews actual research in the field. Previous results indicate that, beyond improvement of management and handling routines, such approaches can positively affect animal behaviour and welfare. The combination of explorative and appetitive behaviour with successful learning improves environmental predictability and controllability for the animals, activates reward-related brain systems and can directly affect emotional processes of appraisal. For practical implementation in farm animal husbandry, it sounds promising to link individual access to e.g. automated feeders or milking systems with previously conditioned stimuli and/or discriminatory learning tasks. First experimental approaches in pigs, dwarf goats and cattle are available and will be discussed in the present article.  相似文献   

3.
The nature of veterinary work in dairy health management in Europe has changed over the past years and will change even more dramatically in the near future. The consumers and the media show increasing concern about animal welfare, safety of products of animal origin and traceability of animal products. Farmers in Europe have to produce under strict, often expensive and laborious regulations, while still commercially competing with farmers outside the EU and not subject to the same rules. Veterinarians should adapt their knowledge and skills to the new challenges and developments of the dairy sector. Dairy farmers nowadays ask for support in areas that go beyond clinical activities: environmental protection, welfare, nutrition, grassland management, economics and business management. Bovine practitioners should be able to advise in many different areas and subjects--that is the challenge to our profession. Veterinary education with regards to cattle health management should start with individual animal clinical work, which constitutes the basis of herd health advisory programmes. The bovine practitioner should then look beyond that and regard the herd as the unit. Each diseased cow or group of cows should be detected early enough to avoid financial losses or such losses should be prevented altogether by detecting and managing risk factors contributing to disease occurrence. Herd health and production management programmes represent the first level to optimise dairy farm performance. Expansions to that should further be considered, comprising both animal health and welfare issues, as well as food safety and public health issues. The latter could be addressed by quality risk management programmes following the HACCP-principles. Cattle veterinarians should follow recent developments and invest in new skills and knowledge in order to maintain their usefulness to the modern dairy farmer. Finally we are convinced that the cattle practitioner should evolve into this direction, otherwise the veterinarian as we know him will miss the train in the next years.  相似文献   

4.
Scientific interest in farm animal welfare has grown rapidly in recent years because consumers increasingly demand that farm animals are reared, transported, and slaughtered in a humane way. Additionally, nutrition emerges as an important aspect of welfare since in most codes of recommendations for the welfare of animals, adequate nutrition is one of the primary requirements to be satisfied. We submit that in many cases domestic animals are provided with diets that, even when abundant and nutritious, are not necessarily adequate to foster the welfare of animals. The monotonous diets fed in confinement (total mixed rations) and on pasture (monocultures) often contain excesses of nutrients, nutrient imbalances, and toxins that adversely influence animal welfare. How much of any food an animal can eat will depend on the other foods it consumes, because at the biochemical level, nutrients and toxins interact one with another—nutrients with nutrients, nutrients with toxins, and toxins with toxins. Food intake and preference also depend on differences in how individual animals are built morphologically and how they function physiologically, and marked variation is common even among closely related animals relative to the needs for nutrients and tolerance to toxins. An integral part of an animal's ability to meet its particular nutritional requirements and consume substances that improve health depends on having a variety of foods available so each animal can select a diet that best meets its homeostatic needs. Food choice may also offer animals a means to cope with toxins, as certain food combinations have the potential to ameliorate the negative effects of toxins. We suggest that the availability of alternatives may not only contribute to maintain homeostasis but also reduce levels of stress. Thus, food choice is necessary for individual animals to have freedom to express their normal behaviors. We contend this freedom enables the uniqueness of individuals to be manifest, thereby promoting animal welfare and performance and increasing profitability of the people who manage animals.  相似文献   

5.
The modern consumer is increasingly concerned about the welfare of farm animals which are kept in intensive systems on specialised farms where the health and well-being is almost completely dependent on the will, ability and care of the farmer. Further demands related to animal production are consumer health (quality and safety of food products), the protection of the environment and cheap food. The currently used husbandry systems are man made and emphasise automation which requires permanent critical observation of the welfare of the animals. Ethological indicators are equally important as health and performance to evaluate keeping systems. Future animal farming will be influenced by new technologies such as electronic animal identification and milking robots, and more important by biotechnology and genome analysis. Veterinary surgeons and farmers have to co-operate on the basis of scientifically sound animal welfare schemes which help to protect our farm animals in modern and intensive livestock production systems.  相似文献   

6.
During 2004, a survey of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (map) was conducted in 101 randomly selected dairy herds to investigate associations between the infection status of the herds, different management practices, and possible disease indicators, such as indices of mastitis and reproductive performance. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire through personal interviews with the farmers and veterinarians in charge of each farm. At the same time, blood samples were taken from cattle over one year old and analysed with a commercial elisa to detect antibodies to map. Statistical analyses indicated that the following management practices constituted major risk factors: utilisation of colostrum from cows with a previous positive map diagnosis, and housing replacement calves with adult cattle before they were six months old. Seropositivity to map was related to the herds' bulk tank somatic cell counts and incidence of clinical mastitis, but not to their reproductive performance.  相似文献   

7.
With the wide application of the artificial insemination (AI) in animal husbandry,the utilization rate of excellent sire got greatly improved.The key point of AI is predicting the time of ovulation and insemination accurately.It is also the point which the animal husbandry technologists highly concerned to improve the application effect of AI.Estrus and ovulation are regulated minutely by reproductive hormones in vivo in farm animals.Timed artificial insemination (TAI) is based on the synchronization of estrus and ovulation,both of which are triggered by reproductive hormones.So the optimal time for AI could be determined from the reproductive hormone treatment.The purpose of TAI is to improve the reproduction performance of farm animals,reduce the workload of identification of estrus,and promote batch management.This review mainly summerized the principles of TAI and its applications status,and the prospects was also discussed.It would provide a reference for the research and application of new reproductive technology in farm animals.  相似文献   

8.
随着人工授精技术在畜牧业中的广泛应用,优秀种公畜的利用率得到了极大提高。而人工授精成功的关键是输精的准确性和及时性,因此如何准确预测排卵时间及输精时间是提高人工授精效果的重要途径,也是当前畜牧工作者高度关注的问题。家畜的发情排卵受到体内生殖激素的精密调控,定时输精技术就是在利用生殖激素进行同期发情、同期排卵的基础上,通过调控母畜的发情和排卵来确定人工输精的最佳时间,以期达到提高家畜繁殖性能、减少发情鉴定工作量和促进养殖场批次化管理的目的。作者综述了家畜定时输精的原理及当前的应用现状,同时对其发展前景进行了展望,以期为畜牧业繁殖新技术的研究和应用提供参考依据。  相似文献   

9.
DHI测定是奶牛场精细化管理的工具,它不仅反映奶牛的产奶性能,饲养管理与健康水平,还能根据报表信息对奶牛场的育种与繁殖情况进行评价从而改进管理措施,利用好DHI报表信息可以提高奶牛场的技术管理水平和经济效益。本研究通过采集宁夏某奶牛场12个月的DHI报表数据,分析乳脂肪、乳蛋白、尿素氮、体细胞数、泌乳持续力等关键性指标,对该奶牛场的生产性能、经营管理、育种繁殖状况进行综合评定。结果表明:该牛场的泌乳高峰日到达较晚;牛群乳房炎在冬季发生率较高;群体尿素氮含量处于正常范围(10-18mg/dL),对奶牛的繁殖性能影响较小;泌乳持续力较高、奶牛群体平均泌乳天数较长引起的繁殖问题较严重。针对测检和分析中发现的问题,提出了建议的改进措施。  相似文献   

10.
The role of water as an essential nutrient for the animals, their health, performance and welfare is often underestimated. Presently there exists no specific legal regulation which defines the water quality for animal consumption. Some local recommendations make reference to the German regulation for the drinking water of humans. This seems to be useful in respect to food producing animals at a first glance. However, significant practical difficulties can occur. Therefore it is necessary to include in a possible regulation for the drinking water of animals additional animal and management specific aspects such as the type of animal, the keeping system, the water supply system, the distribution systems and the drinkers which are used. It may also be useful to define animal specific thresholds for certain groups of compounds and contaminants. As a first step towards a possible regulation 12 recommendations are given to improve and standardise the water supply of farm and pet animals.  相似文献   

11.
Welfare in farm animals is both difficult to define and measure. Definitions of welfare and the indicators of welfare which can be scientifically measured are discussed. These indicators are health, productivity, physiological and biochemical changes, and behavioural patterns; they can often be correlated from a husbandry system to give a good indication of the welfare status of the animals in the system. Most of the research work in this area has been done in the intensive pig and poultry industries, although the correlation of biochemical measures with husbandry procedures used in sheep and cattle has begun. It is difficult at this stage to develop a simple stress test that would take all the variables into account, but a change of any of the indicators will suggest further investigation is required. The most obvious to monitor is behaviour, as even a slight change can indicate a change in welfare status.  相似文献   

12.
The objective of this review is to consider the ethics of stockmanship, particularly from the perspective of the nature and extent of the duties of stockpeople to their farm animals. It will consider what science tells us about the impact of stockmanship on the animal, particularly the welfare of the farm animal. The effects of human-animal interactions on the stockperson will also be considered, since these interactions affect the work performance and job satisfaction of the stockperson and thus indirectly affect animal welfare. Animal ethics is broader than animal welfare and includes economic as well as philosophical, social, cultural and religious aspects. This paper is predicated on the view that farm animals can suffer, and that animal suffering is a key consideration in our moral obligations to animals. Housing and husbandry practices affect farm animal welfare and thus farmers and stockpeople have a responsibility to provide, at minimum, community-acceptable animal housing and husbandry standards for their animals. The farmer's or stockperson's attitudes and behaviour can directly affect the animal's welfare and thus they also have a responsibility to provide specific standards of stockmanship for these animals. However, research suggests that the behaviour of some stockpeople is not as correct as it might be. Such situations exemplify the inevitably unequal human - domestic animal relationship, and this inequality should be considered in analysing the boundary between right and wrong behaviour of humans. Thus ethical discussion, using science and other considerations and involving stockpeople, livestock industries, government and the general public, should be used to establish and assure acceptable stockperson competencies across the livestock industries. Training programs targeting the key attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople presently offer the livestock industries good opportunities to improve human-animal interactions.  相似文献   

13.
Organic farm management combines best environmental practices, a high level of biodiversity, preservation of natural resources and high animal welfare standards. To meet these criteria, farmers must have livestock well adapted to local organic conditions and information about how different breeds and crosses perform under different conditions. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of different pure breeds and cross-breeds of cattle in organic dairy systems in Northern Spain. The data analysed were obtained from monthly records kept between 2010 and 2016 on organic farms registered in the regional milk recording system. Analysis of various traits indicated that the Holstein-Friesian breed suits the organic production system in the study region. Although the reproductive performance of Holstein-Friesian cows was poorer (in terms of number of services per conception) than that of cross-breed and Brown Swiss cows, the Holstein-Friesian produced more milk and lived longer. In addition, there was no difference in calving type or calving ease between the different breed groups. The better milk fat and protein yields produced by the crosses may be useful traits for farmers interested in milk transformation. The advantage of continuing to use Holstein-Friesian cattle is that the breed is predominant worldwide, and the genealogy is well documented. If Holstein-Friesian cattle continue to be used, the main priority will be to search for well-adapted bulls (particularly for pasture-based conditions) and to elaborate a genetic merit index for organic and pasture-based systems with the aim of predicting and minimizing genotype × environment interactions.  相似文献   

14.
Timely onset of postpartum ovarian activity is vital for optimal reproductive performance of dairy cows. Much depends upon genetic constitution of an animal although several factors interplay to govern the onset of postpartum ovarian activity. South Asian zebu cattle have much longer service period when compared with other exotic or crossbred cattle reared in the same Asian environment, which suggests differences in their genetic makeup. However, the cows with same genetic configuration expressed better reproductive potential when reared under different environment, such as in Brazil and Mexico, which suggests the role of extrinsic factors such as management, nutrition, environment and disease conditions. Better management of animals (provision of proper shade, water and housing, efficient oestrous detection and timely insemination), good quality nutrition supplemented with appropriate minerals and vitamins, prevention of diseases (vaccination, deworming, suitable therapeutic interventions) and application of biotechnology have helped in improving postpartum ovarian activity and, therefore, reproductive performance of zebu cattle in Asia. No comprehensive study appears to have been carried out on the various aspects of reproduction in zebu cattle reared under South Asian socio-agro-climatic conditions. This paper is a modest effort to collect what ever information available and to critically review the postpartum ovarian activity in zebu cattle with special reference to the effect of the various managemental practices and pharmacological interventions.  相似文献   

15.
OBJECTIVE: To provide an integrated view of relationships between assessment of animal welfare. societal expectations regarding animal welfare standards, the need for regulation, and two ethical strategies for promoting animal welfare, emphasising farm animals. APPROACH: Ideas in relevant papers and key insights were outlined and illustrated, where appropriate, by New Zealand experience with different facets of the welfare management of farm animals. CONCLUSIONS: An animal's welfare is good when its nutritional, environmental, health, behavioural and mental needs are met. Compromise may occur in one or more of these areas and is assessed by scientifically-informed best judgement using parameters validated by directed research and objective analysis in clinical and practical settings. There is a wide range of perceptions of what constitutes good and bad welfare in society, so that animal welfare standards cannot be left to individual preferences to determine. Rather, the promotion of animal welfare is seen as requiring central regulation, but managed in a way that allows for adjustments based on new scientific knowledge of animals' needs and changing societal perceptions of what is acceptable and unacceptable treatment of animals. Concepts of 'minimal welfare', representing the threshold of cruelty, and 'acceptable welfare', representing higher, more acceptable standards than those that merely avoid cruelty, are outlined. They are relevant to economic analyses, which deal with determinants of animal welfare standards based on financial costs and the desire of the public to feel broadly comfortable about the treatment of the animals that are used to serve their needs. Ethical strategies for promoting animal welfare can be divided broadly into the 'gold standard' approach and the 'incremental improvement' approach. The first defines the ideal that is to be required in a particular situation and will accept nothing less than that ideal, whereas the second aims to improve welfare in a step-wise fashion by setting a series of achievable goals, seeing each small advance as worthwhile progress towards the same ideal. 'Incremental improvement' is preferred. This also has application in veterinary practice where the professional commitment to maintain good welfare standards may at times conflict with financial constraints experienced by clients.  相似文献   

16.
基于动物福利的实验动物管理   总被引:2,自引:1,他引:1  
动物福利包括实验动物福利、农场动物福利、野生动物福利等。目前,越来越多的实验动物被应用到科学研究当中,实验动物福利也受到了各国研究者的重视。在实验动物管理中,环境调控、日常饲养管理及动物实验等方面皆应考虑动物福利,环境因素主要包括温度、湿度、噪音、空气质量和光照等;日常饲养管理包括动物的饲料与饮水、运输、人员培训等;动物实验方面应遵从3R原则。我国实验动物的福利事业已经展开,《实验动物的法律保护》的建议稿已于2010年提出,鉴于国内外动物福利的现状分析,我国建立实验动物福利标准势在必行。  相似文献   

17.
Consumers, industrial stakeholders, and the legislature demand a stronger focus on animal welfare of all livestock at the farm level by using suitable indicators in self-assessments. In order to deduce farms’ animal welfare status reliably, factors that influence indicators’ results need to be identified. Hence, this study aimed to apply possible animal welfare indicators for unweaned dairy calves on conventional dairy farms with early cow–calf separation and evaluate influencing factors such as age and sex of calves or climatic conditions on the applied indicators’ results. An animal welfare assessment using 7 resource-based and 14 animal-based indicators was conducted at 42 typical Western German dairy farms (844 calves) in 2018 and 2019 by two observers. The effect of influencing factors was calculated by binary and ordinal logistic regressions and expressed as odds ratios. Although every unweaned calf was assessed during the farm visits, most farms had relatively few unweaned calves (average number of calves ± standard deviation = 20.1 ± 6.7 calves), with six farms having not more than 10 calves. The small sample sizes question the usage of those indicators to compare between farms and to set thresholds at the farm level. Only one assessed indicator (cleanliness core body) was not statistically affected by the evaluated influencing factors. Calf age was identified as the most decisive factor, as it affected 16 of 21 evaluated indicators, and calf age distribution on-farm varied greatly. Climatic conditions (ambient temperature and rainfall) influenced resource-based indicators such as access to concentrate and water or the cleanliness of feeding implements and bedding as well as animal-based cleanliness indicators and the occurrence of health-related impairments such as coughing and diarrhea. The authors found differences between calves on farms assessed by the different observers not only in resource-based hygiene indicators but also in animal-based indicators such as hyperthermia or hypothermia, highlighting the need for further evaluation of quality criteria in dairy calf welfare assessments. Nevertheless, animal welfare assessments by farmers themselves could be useful tools to sensitize farmers to animal welfare and thereby improve calves’ welfare.  相似文献   

18.
Contents This paper considers (potentially) harmful consequences of new biotechnologies for farm animal welfare. The most important new biotechnologies that are currently used in farm animals breeding and husbandry include: multiple ovulation and embryo transfer (MOET) and in vitro embryo production (IVP). Cloning by nuclear transfer (NT) and transgenesis are still in development and mainly applied for experimental purposes with the prospect of a more widespread practical implemention in the future. Evidence is presented showing that generally accepted technologies such as MOET and IVP, relative to in vivo procedures, can result in a host of deleterious side-effects commonly known as the large offspring syndrome (LOS). Likewise, NT and transgenesis, which also typically include several in vitro reproductive manipulations, have clearly been associated with the occurrence of LOS symptoms. It is argued that transgenesis may constitute one additional set of factors that may negatively affect farm animal welfare: the expression of the transgene and the concomitant synthesis and release of a protein. NT might lead to incompletely reprogramming of the transferred genome. It is suggested that the introduction of new biotechnologies into farm animal husbandry should be accompanied by scientifically valid and systematic studies into the effects on animal welfare, with the help of a comprehensive welfare protocol.  相似文献   

19.
Animal welfare: concepts and measurement.   总被引:11,自引:0,他引:11  
The term "welfare" refers to the state of an individual in relation to its environment, and this can be measured. Both failure to cope with the environment and difficulty in coping are indicators of poor welfare. Suffering and poor welfare often occur together, but welfare can be poor without suffering and welfare should not be defined solely in terms of subjective experiences. The situations that result in poor welfare are reviewed in this study with special reference to those in which an individual lacks control over interactions with its environment. The indicators of poor welfare include the following: reduced life expectancy, impaired growth, impaired reproduction, body damage, disease, immunosuppression, adrenal activity, behavior anomalies, and self-narcotization. The uses of measures of responsiveness, stereotypies, and animal preferences in welfare assessment are discussed. The need to make direct measurement of poor welfare as well as to use sophisticated studies of animal preferences is emphasized.  相似文献   

20.
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