Application Of The Welfare Quality Protocol To Assess Growing Pigs Kept Under Intensive Conditions In Spain

These findings assess the validity of the Welfare Quality® protocol with respect to growing pigs by examining 12 criteria related to feeding, housing, health, and appropriate behavior. Scientists concluded that this methodology can be helpful in identifying farms with poor welfare conditions.

Article Abstract:

“This study is a first step toward the validation of the Welfare Quality® protocol for assessing welfare of growing pigs kept on farms. The feasibility and sensitivity of the entire protocol was evaluated on 30 conventional farms in Spain, and a methodology to identify farms with particular welfare problems was proposed. A total of 64,496 pigs were assessed on the basis of 12 criteria related to the following 4 welfare principles: good feeding, housing, health, and appropriate behavior. Good feeding, housing, and health measures were scored at the pen- or individual-level using a 3-point scale ranging from 0 (good welfare) to 2 (poor or unacceptable). Appropriate behavior was assessed by scan sampling of social and exploratory behavior, qualitative behavior assessment, and a human–animal relationship test. The mean time taken for performing the full protocol was 6 hours and 20 minutes ± 51 minutes per visit. The between-farm variability of moderate and severe bursitis, presence of manure on less than 50% of the body surface, expression of positive and negative social behaviors, and exploration helped in the assessment of discrimination among farms. However, other animal-based measures, especially the ones related to the good health principle, presented very little variation that could be used to differentiate among farms. For each animal-based measure, confidence limits were estimated so as to make statistical inferences at the population level. This methodology could be useful to identify farms with poor welfare conditions.”