Overview of indicators to assess on-farm welfare of sheep and goats

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of a number of useful indicators to assess on-farm welfare of sheep and goats in commercial systems. Assessing the welfare of production animals is vital to ensure that optimal conditions are provided by animal managers. Welfare is a multifactorial concept that is difficult to describe as there are multiple definitions and interpretations. However, welfare is generally concerned with an animal’s quality of life and includes natural living, affective state, and biological functioning. Animal welfare assessment protocols for sheep and goats use a variety of animal-, management- and resource-based indicators of welfare. Management- and resource-based indicators are useful for on-farm welfare assessments, as they can be reliably and quickly measured; however, animal-based indicators may give a more accurate indication of specific welfare conditions, as they directly focus on the animal. Useful indicators should be valid, reliable, and feasible, and some examples include body condition scoring, hair/fleece condition, skin lesions, claw overgrowth, lameness, and the human-animal relationship. Identification of areas of welfare compromise is the first step in order to improve the welfare of sheep and goats on-farm.