11 SCIENCE GROUP REVIEW 2014
Farm animals department
AssureWel, a collaborative
project led by the RSPCA, the Soil
Association and the University of
Bristol, moved into its fifth year.
The primary aim of the project is
to improve farm animal welfare
via development of practical,
scientifically informed welfare
assessments, to be implemented
within the RSPCA's Freedom Food
and the Soil Association's farm
assurance schemes.
Welfare assessments have been
developed for laying hens, dairy
cattle, finishing pigs and dry sows
and are being fully implemented
within both schemes. The
assessment results can be used
to evaluate and monitor the
welfare of the animals farmed
under the schemes and to
inform future standard
development decisions.
In 2014 the project has been
developing welfare assessments
for beef cattle, sheep and
meat chickens. Development
incorporates a literature review,
industry consultation and
on-farm piloting to ensure the
measures and protocols are
both robust and practical.
ASSUREWEL: WELFARE OUTCOME ASSESSMENT
Encouraging adoption of welfare assessment
A key goal of the AssureWel
project is to encourage other
schemes in the UK and
internationally to adopt the
AssureWel approach and embed
welfare assessments within their
own schemes.
In April the farm animals team
and RSPCA International
colleagues hosted the first
AssureWel International
workshop, which was attended
by several like-minded farm
assurance schemes from within
the EU and beyond. The
workshop facilitated sharing
of best practice between the
schemes on developing and
implementing welfare outcome
assessments on-farm to improve
farm animal welfare.
Reaching an
an international
audience
In September we attended the
Assessment of Animal Welfare
at Farm and Group Level (WAFL)
international scientific
conference and presented
work carried out as part of
the AssureWel project.
The conference was attended
by around 350 delegates,
including welfare scientists and
other interested stakeholders,
providing an excellent platform
to discuss developments and
exchange information regarding
the assessment of farm animal
welfare. Our presentation
focused on how Freedom Food
assessors and RSPCA farm
livestock officers can use welfare
assessments to engage positively
with farmers and encourage
them to make changes on farm
to improve animal welfare.
'benchmarking of core
welfare measures'
Welfare assessments have
been undertaken on Freedom
Food and Soil Association
approved laying hen farms
for the last three years.
Using data collected during
this time, we have seen feather
loss reduce by approximately
a third for laying hens within
the schemes. Benchmarking of
feather loss data has enabled
farmers to see where they score
for certain welfare measures
compared to their peers, and
is one communication tool
used on-farm to encourage
improvement. Future
plans include introducing
benchmarking of core welfare
measures for other species
within the AssureWel project.
www.assurewel.org
Joe Murphy/RSPCA Photolibrary Freedom Food, Julia Wrathall/RSPCA Farm Animals Department
staff in action
Sophie Butcher -
Scientific Officer (Welfare
Outcomes Assessment)
"Welfare outcome assessment provides us with
a better understanding of the impact that the
resources provided are having on the animals."
Improvements for laying hens