Sirvi Autor "Piirsalu, Peep (advisor)" järgi
Nüüd näidatakse 1 - 1 1
Tulemused lehekülje kohta
Sorteerimisvalikud
Kirje Comparative welfare evaluation of sheep production systems(Estonian University of Life Sciences, 2024) Marcone, Giovanni; Arney, David (advisor); Piirsalu, Peep (advisor); Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences; Norring, Marianna (opponent)ABSTRACT. The welfare of animals in livestock production is of importance for the animals, the general public and the sustainability of animal agriculture. Ways of assessing welfare for sheep have been developed, but those available are complex, time-consuming and may not be appropriate for the different ways of keeping sheep, different sheep breeds and different climatic conditions. This doctoral thesis examines some welfare problems of sheep farming, including issues related to weather conditions, and devises and tests a simplified welfare evaluation system for sheep that is reliable, easy-to use and is focussed on actual problems. Findings include: Sheep prefer to be outside even in the winter, and even in the cool winters of Estonia, so we should allow sheep to have access to the outdoors, even in winter. In the summer, even in the relatively cool summers of northern Europe, sheep can suffer from heat stress. If sheep are at pasture during warm days they will use shade if it is available, and if they do not have access to shade they are more likely to suffer from the heat. So we should ensure that sheep have access to shade while at pasture. Sheep panting score was used to assess heat stress. This is a simple measure to observe and could be included in sheep welfare assessment protocols. The importance of different welfare indicators for sheep of different interest groups was investigated. In brief, farmers thought that body condition (too thin sheep) was the most important welfare indicator, whereas the general public thought that lameness was the most important. Female respondents thought that welfare issues were more significant than male respondents. A simplified protocol to assess the welfare of sheep was developed, using inputs from welfare scientists and from farmers themselves. This was demonstrated to be practical and easy to use. This could be used by welfare assessors but also by farmers to easily check the welfare of their own sheep themselves.