Improving Farm Animal Productivity and Welfare,by Increasing Skills and Knowledge of Stock People
Animal welfare and production results are closely linked.There is a lot of variation in both,even if the circumstances under which the animals are kept appear to be similar.This means that the farmer himself plays an important role in maintaining a good level of welfare, and a good level of production.Taking care of animals is a job for which skills and training are required.Some of the most important attributes are a sound technical understanding of what animals need,a keen eye for the signals animals send regarding their health and welfare and the personal characteristics to act on information.Stock people should be supported to do their job well, e.g.,through training on technical issues, but also by training on how to learn about the signals that animals send to us.A correct assessment of the welfare status, e.g., through the Welfare Quality(R) protocol, will also facilitate the issues which need to be addressed through good farm management.Finally, the attitude of the stock person to his or her work is of crucial importance to animal wellbeing.Training which addresses attitudes is available, and has also proven to be effective in increasing farm productivity.
Animal welfare animal performance stock person training animal signals Welfare Quality(R)
Hans Spoolder Marko Ruis
Department of Animal Welfare, Wageningen UR Livestock Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
国际会议
The 2015 International Symposium on Animal Environment and Welfare(动物环境和福利国际研讨会)
重庆
英文
269-277
2015-10-23（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）