Research

Animal Management Practices

Currently, there is a push from both consumers and producers to improve animal welfare within commercial production systems. Multiple agriculture industries have therefore begun transitioning from conventional towards alternative systems. Many of these alterations are improving components of animal welfare, such as the opportunity to express natural behavior. However, there is a need for more integrative research on the impacts of animal production systems on other aspects of animal welfare, such as health and productivity.

Identifying Compromised Animal Welfare

A great deal of research is available that categorizes behavioral measures of animals with severely compromised welfare. This research is important for identifying humane outcomes of animals under severe health and stress challenges. However, little research exists on identifying behavioral measures of animals under moderate challenges to welfare. This research is important as animals still have the opportunity to recover from moderate stress without long-term consequences for their health, physiology, and production.

Attenuating Animal Stress

Stress is detrimental for animal welfare, health, and performance. The onset of stress occurs due to a variety of reasons in captive animals, including management practices, environment, and social isolation. Environmental enrichment, defined as the mental stimulation using physical and social surroundings, is shown to be an effective method of attenuating stress in multiple species. Environmental enrichment is most effective when it stimulates species-specific behavior and is novel. Therefore, more research is necessary for ensuring that enough effective environmental enrichment tools are available.