The Welfare of Cattle


Book Description

This book covers all aspects of research into the welfare of dairy, veal and beef cattle, covering behavior, nutrition and feeding, housing and management, stockmanship, and stress physiology, as well as transport and slaughter. It also offers a detailed and critical analysis of the main indicators of animal welfare and covers the main threats to animal welfare in modern cattle production systems.




Information Resources on the Care and Welfare of Beef Cattle


Book Description

One of the main animal welfare concerns in beef cattle production is that of pain and distress. Dehorning, castration, and branding are husbandry procedures which can cause pain and discomfort. Less acute but still distressful are those issues related to the animal environment. Extreme natural conditions can result in cattle that are heat and/or cold stressed. Drought and the resulting overstocking for available feed resources can also reduce body fatness. These are important welfare issues in modern beef production. The following bibliography explores these issues and more and should provide a useful resource for scientists, veterinarians, extension specialists, students, and others.




Cow Talk


Book Description

The aim of this manual is to improve the welfare of dairy cattle in tropical developing countries, and by doing so, optimise cow and herd performance. It gives the stockmen and farmers directly concerned with the cattle a better understanding of animal behaviour and the ways cattle communicate their comfort or distress. The book discusses normal cattle behaviour and shows how domestication and breeding can affect behaviour to achieve high levels of production of milk, live weight gain and fertility. Animal welfare is important for producers because it can affect the health, production and contentment of cows. Animal welfare practices which adversely affect cow and herd performance on tropical small holder dairy farms are identified. Advice is then given to change the animal's environment or modify a handler's technique to ensure cattle have the degree of comfort needed to achieve more profitable and sustainable systems of livestock farming. Cow Talk will be a beneficial resource for farmers who want to improve animal welfare, farm advisers who can assist farmers to improve their welfare practices, educators who develop training programs for farmers and dairy advisers, and other stakeholders in tropical dairy production such as local agribusiness, policy makers and research scientists.




Cow Care in Hindu Animal Ethics


Book Description

This open access book provides both a broad perspective and a focused examination of cow care as a subject of widespread ethical concern in India, and increasingly in other parts of the world. In the face of what has persisted as a highly charged political issue over cow protection in India, intellectual space must be made to bring the wealth of Indian traditional ethical discourse to bear on the realities of current human-animal relationships, particularly those of humans with cows. Dharma, yoga, and bhakti paradigms serve as starting points for bringing Hindu—particularly Vaishnava Hindu—animal ethics into conversation with contemporary Western animal ethics. The author argues that a culture of bhakti—the inclusive, empathetic practice of spirituality centered in Krishna as the beloved cowherd of Vraja—can complement recently developed ethics-of-care thinking to create a solid basis for sustaining all kinds of cow care communities.




Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals


Book Description

A respected resource for decades, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals has been updated by a committee of experts, taking into consideration input from the scientific and laboratory animal communities and the public at large. The Guide incorporates new scientific information on common laboratory animals, including aquatic species, and includes extensive references. It is organized around major components of animal use: Key concepts of animal care and use. The Guide sets the framework for the humane care and use of laboratory animals. Animal care and use program. The Guide discusses the concept of a broad Program of Animal Care and Use, including roles and responsibilities of the Institutional Official, Attending Veterinarian and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Animal environment, husbandry, and management. A chapter on this topic is now divided into sections on terrestrial and aquatic animals and provides recommendations for housing and environment, husbandry, behavioral and population management, and more. Veterinary care. The Guide discusses veterinary care and the responsibilities of the Attending Veterinarian. It includes recommendations on animal procurement and transportation, preventive medicine (including animal biosecurity), and clinical care and management. The Guide addresses distress and pain recognition and relief, and issues surrounding euthanasia. Physical plant. The Guide identifies design issues, providing construction guidelines for functional areas; considerations such as drainage, vibration and noise control, and environmental monitoring; and specialized facilities for animal housing and research needs. The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals provides a framework for the judgments required in the management of animal facilities. This updated and expanded resource of proven value will be important to scientists and researchers, veterinarians, animal care personnel, facilities managers, institutional administrators, policy makers involved in research issues, and animal welfare advocates.




Information Resources on Swine Housing, Care and Welfare


Book Description

Stockperson training represents an integral component of any successful farm operation. This resource guide was developed to assist swine producers, farm managers, extension specialists, and others in locating educational resources regarding swine housing, care, and welfare. The guide contains a detailed listing of training materials, books, selected web pages, and an extensive bibliography. Farm managers, extension agents, and others, are encouraged to be creative with the resources listed and integrate their use into their regular farm training programs.




Improving Animal Welfare


Book Description

Completely revised, updated and with four new chapters on sustainability, new technologies, precision agriculture and the future of animal welfare. This book is edited by an outstanding world expert on animal welfare, it emphasizes throughout the importance of measuring conditions that compromise welfare, such as lameness, heat stress, body condition, and bruises during transport.The book combines scientific information with practical recommendations for use on commercial operations and reviews practical information on livestock handling, euthanasia, slaughter, pain relief, and assessments of abnormal behavior.