Monthly Archives: January 2017

FareWellDock publication list

At present the FareWellDock website has 97 blog posts (like this one).

We are drafting our final report and finalising our publication list. Here you can find the FareWellDock publication list. At present we are heading towards 28 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 6 book chapters, 35 conference contributions, 16+ farm-magazine articles, 14 training sessions and several other communication activities (internet and radio).

FareWellDock logo

 

Overview of FareWellDock project meetings

Startup meeting Helsinki, FI (live), 5-6 Nov. 2013
2nd project meeting (video conference), 27-3-14
3rd project meeting (video conference), 9-10-14
4th project meeting Paris, FR (live), 8/9-4-2015
5th project meeting (video conference), 7-10-2016
6th project meeting (video conference), 16-3-2016
7th project meeting Edinburgh (satellite meeting ISAE), 12-7-2016
8th project meeting Vejle, DK (live), 27/28-10-2016
9th project meeting (video conference), 16-1-2017
1st FareWellDock-network meeting Aarhus (satellite meeting ISAE), 7-8-2017

Participants of the FareWellDock meeting in Vejle, Denmark

Ice blocks may vaccinate and enrich gestating sow welfare

An investigation of sow interaction with ice blocks on a farm with group-housed sows fed by electronic sow feeders

By M.K. Pierdon, A.M. John and T.D. Parsons. in: Journal of Swine Health and Production 24(6):309-314 · November 2016

Abstract

More gestating sows are being housed in pens where it is challenging to implement controlled exposure to pathogens for disease control (“feedback”). Ice blocks provide a possible vehicle for feedback material in pen gestation. Ice blocks were placed once weekly for 6 consecutive weeks in a pen of approximately 130 sows to test whether sows would interact with the blocks of ice. Sows were housed in a large, dynamic pre-implantation group fed with electronic sow feeders. Each ice block was video-recorded for 1 hour. All sows that contacted it were identified. The number of sows, their duration of contact, and amount of aggression were coded from the video. Median number of sows that interacted with the ice was 94, and increasing the number of ice blocks from two to four per pen increased the median number of sows to contact the ice and the median duration of an individual sow’s contact with the ice, and decreased the amount of aggression at each block. Our findings suggest ice blocks are a convenient vehicle for controlled exposure of feedback material to gestating sows housed in large pens. However, additional studies are needed to validate pathogen exposure with this method.

 

From beak to tail – Meeting announcement

From beak to tail – mechanisms underlying damaging behaviour in laying hens and pigs

First Announcement
ISAE 2017 Satellite Meeting
Monday 7th August 2017,
University of Aarhus, Denmark

A one-day meeting, organized jointly by the FareWellDock – Network and the GroupHouseNet COST-action aims to bring together researchers working within the field of damaging behaviour in both pigs and poultry. By joining efforts on an interspecies level, we have the opportunity to greatly enhance the understanding of the mechanisms underlying tail biting and feather pecking. Both behaviours are challenging, from an animal welfare and from an economic point-of-view, while in several countries, as well as at the EU level, the ethical justification of tail docking and beak trimming is currently being debated.

This full-day meeting will be held at the ISAE 2017 congress venue on August 7th, 2017, starting at 9am.

The meeting will focus on the following main themes:

– Mechanisms underlying the link between health and damaging behaviour

– Predisposing factors for damaging behaviour during early development

Both themes will be introduced by invited experts, followed by short research presentations by participants, and then elaborated on in inter-species discussion groups.

In addition, the program will include a networking session, with the aim to facilitate knowledge exchange and future cooperation between researchers working on damaging behaviour in pigs and poultry.

The registration for the meeting will open by the end of February 2017, and will be open until May 15th, 2017. The meeting participation is limited to 80 persons, so make sure to register in time!

For further information, please contact anna . valros [AT] helsinki . fi.

From Beat to Tail – Homepage

www.isae2017.com

Leaflet

 

Last FareWellDock meeting (videoconference)

FareWellDock’s final project meeting was a videoconference call dd Januari 16, 2017. The meeting was used to fine-tune final deliverables, esp. the factsheets and final report for ANIHWA. We decided to add local contacts to the translated factsheets, and to use the executive summary later to inform farm magazines about the FareWellDock results.

We also briefly discussed initiatives concerning the follow-up of the project, in particular the farewelldock network and the first post-project meeting.

This meeting is scheduled as a satellite meeting to the ISAE meeting in Aarhus on Aug 7, 2017. It will be a joint meeting with the GroupHouseNet project, and we are looking for sponsors to support the meeting, which will discuss mechanisms underlying tail biting in pigs and feather pecking in poultry, as well as aspects of early development of these abnormal behaviours.

Picture of the meeting