Impact case study database

National implementation of welfare outcome assessments

From 2011 to 2017, welfare outcome assessments [1-3, 5] were implemented within farm assurance schemes across the UK. The AssureWel project developed freely available, scheme-specific protocols and implemented welfare outcome assessments into the UK ‘Red Tractor Assurance’, ‘RSPCA Assured’ and ‘Soil Association Certification’ schemes. Guidance and best practice were distilled in the final AssureWel Manual, which is available to download or as a printed copy; it is used across the farming, supply chain and food retail industries to improve animal welfare. From 2013 to 2020, over 200 farm assurance assessors from the UK, Europe and the USA were trained on farms and via the AssureWel webtool. This was the only major new national initiative at the time to focus on these outcome measures and helped farmers to seek support from other sources. UoB researchers provided expert consultancy on welfare outcome assessment to NGOs including Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection.

Data from AssureWel associated schemes shows that, for pigs, dairy cows and non-cage laying hens, >95% of all farms in the UK are incorporated in the schemes (Table 1) [A].

Table 1 – Summary of welfare outcome assessment implementation (2019).

Improved animal welfare

Pigs – Data collected via the ‘Real Welfare’ scheme shows ongoing improvements in pig husbandry and welfare [Bi]. The UK Chief Veterinary Officer welcomed the Real Welfare report [Bii], describing it as ‘a practical way of monitoring changes and promoting welfare improvements over time, as well as supporting the industry in demonstrating welfare standards to consumers and retailers’ [Biii].

Laying Hens – Peer-reviewed analysis of welfare outcome assessments in non-caged laying hens reveals that feather loss, an indicator of injurious pecking, has reduced by 35% on the head/neck region and additionally 31% over the back/vent [C]. Updated data suggests that this welfare benefit for approximately 1,800,000 birds is being maintained over time (Figure 1) [A].

Cattle – Compared with 2014 baseline data, in 2018, 45,000 fewer cows were lame (28% reduction), 18,000 fewer were fat (38% reduction), 72,000 fewer suffered from hair loss lesions or swellings (HLS) (45% reduction), and 135,000 fewer were dirty (64% reduction) (Figure 2) [A]. Not only is lameness painful and requires treatment, it also leads to production losses estimated at GBP248 per case or GBP11,200,000 per year to the UK industry.

Figure 1 – Proportion of laying hens recorded with slight (blue) and severe (orange) feather loss on two body areas over time (mean: 766 farms and 38,300 birds assessed per year).

Figure 2 – Proportion of cattle recorded as lame, thin, fat, with hair loss, lesion or swelling (HLS), or dirty over 5 years (Sep 2013 – Aug 2018) (mean: 7,000 farms and 70,000 cows assessed per year).

Informed national regulatory policy

Based on the evidence from the Defra commissioned study into beak trimming [6] and advice from the Beak Trimming Action Group (BTAG) [Di] of which Professor Nicol was a member, in 2015 the UK government decided not to ban beak trimming [Dii]. The then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs added that ‘the BTAG report also identified improved management techniques that could reduce feather pecking. The Government expects to see these techniques introduced across the laying hen sector’ [Dii]. The majority of mainstream laying hen flocks are beak trimmed (cage and non-cage housed; >40 million birds); all of these flocks have a reduced risk of severe outbreaks of cannibalism as a result of the UK government’s decision not to ban beak trimming.

Codes of practice for farm animal welfare developed by Defra under the Animal Welfare Act (2006) have a regulatory role to help establish or disprove a person’s liability if a case reaches prosecution. The codes of practice for Laying Hens and Pullets [Ei], Meat Chickens and Meat Breeding Chickens [Eii] and Pigs [Eiii], all promote welfare outcome assessments to monitor welfare and direct users to the UoB-led AssureWel and FeatherWel projects for guidance on measuring welfare outcomes.

The Lion code, which applies to approximately 95% of UK egg production, requires producers to implement at least six management strategies from the FeatherWel guide [Fii]. In addition, the RSPCA Welfare Standards for Laying Hens (2017) [Gii] require that all of their farms (housing more than 20 million hens) have a copy of the FeatherWel guide, are familiar with the contents and implement the recommendations as appropriate. Moreover, many of the welfare standards for pullets and laying hens in the RSPCA Assured scheme include ‘requirements and guidance based on research and work by The University of Bristol’ [Gi]. Implementation of strategies from this guide benefits the welfare of the majority of loose-housed laying hens in the UK (more than 20 million hens annually).

Informing international farming practice

AssureWel International is a group of stakeholders including representatives from farm assurance schemes in the USA, Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Serbia who have implemented welfare outcome assessment and maintain an online training and knowledge hub. Dr Mullan also leads the Global Animal Welfare Assurance (GAWA) initiative, an international alliance of higher welfare schemes, which requires monitoring of welfare outcomes by members.

In 2018, UoB were contracted to develop welfare outcome measures for the Belgian Pig Assurance Scheme (Belpork) covering 2,500 farms representing 50% of national production [H]. Dr Mullan led stakeholder workshops, pilot testing of measures and training of assessors enabling the scheme to begin formal monitoring of welfare outcomes in February 2020.

Hennovation, an EU-funded Horizon 2020 project (UoB-led) used the laying hen industry as an example of initiating change through farmer led innovation. The project produced Feather Pecking Guidelines’ [I] educating stakeholders with regard to the management of feather pecking. These guidelines [I] were co-authored by Dr Weeks, referred to the FeatherWel website, and have been translated into Dutch, Spanish and Czech.

Change in practice by UK food retailers

Major UK food retailers have included welfare outcome measures within their supply chain requirements and acknowledge direct support of UoB in the process through provision of training to employees (Marks & Spencer: ‘Operationally, we’re supported by our suppliers and expert organisations such as Bristol University. All our agriculture managers are externally trained in animal welfare by Bristol University’, Sainsbury’s: ‘We ensure that all relevant internal colleagues receive training on our health and welfare policies to guarantee their effective implementation. Recent examples include University of Bristol animal welfare courses’ and The Co-operative:

‘We are working with….The University of Bristol to trial a new method of measuring chicken welfare called Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA).’), with the importance of this process being highlighted publicly in the drive to improve welfare by these and other retailers (Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose) [J].