Animal Welfare Can Now Be "Objectively" Measured

The new model calculates a score for the well-being of the animals by inputting data on their accommodation, such as the space they have and the size of the group, and on the way they are managed. The researchers were trying to find the best way to determine the well-being of the animals by giving a proper scientific score. They based their analysis on the satisfaction or frustration of the animals’ biological needs, such as for food and water, social contact between individuals, peace and quiet in the shed, freedom of movement and bodily care (for example whether the animals were able to wallow in mud), and the opportunities they had to rummage and root around. The better these provisions and conditions, the higher the score on a well-being scale from 0 to 10.

The researchers then distinguished between various aspects of the housing that influence the well-being of the animals. They looked at such things as the need for the animals to be able to move, isolating the factor ‘space per sty’, because a lack of space can lead to increased aggression in pigs, which in nature range over large areas. Using this kind of scientific insight allowed the researchers to assign a weighting to the attributes for well-being in the model.

In order to compare the scientifically determined scores with the experience of animal welfare experts, the team had the experts assign a score to a number of management and accommodation systems for pregnant sows. The scores assigned were as follows: tethered sows: 0.0; individual feeding cubicles: 0.7; groups with feeding cubicles: 3.0; groups with graduated supply of feed in a trough: 3.7; concentrated feed stations: 3.0; fields with huts: 7.1; and family sties: 8.3.

A comparison of the scores given by the experts and those assigned by the model showed that the model based on separate well-being scores is just as good at evaluating the welfare of the animals as the average expert.

The well-being model can be used to evaluate existing pig farms, for example in determining policy and in making ethical decisions regarding animal welfare. It can also be used to design new accommodation and management systems. The results of the project imply that to achieve genuine improvements in animal welfare, substantial improvements in their accommodation and management will be necessary.