The European Association of Animal Production in Belfast (EAAP) held its annual meeting in Belfast this week, attended by more than 1000 scientists from across Europe and beyond. The meeting covers all aspects of animal production from dog breeding and equine welfare to genetics and genomics of milk and fibre production, and everything in between.
Our own Prof Cathy Dwyer presented in the session on methods for reducing lamb mortality, by seeking to translate their group's extensive research findings into practical on farm applications to improve lamb survival and welfare. She gave an overview of the biological principles behind survival, and then chaired a lively session focussed on understanding the barriers to collecting good quality data on farm.
In addition Cathy attempted to navigate the complexities of the timetable (73 sessions running in 10 parallel streams) to hear some interesting papers on the use of Infra Red Thermography to assess stress and welfare in dairy calves and racehorses, on farm assessment of welfare in pigs and how dressage trainers translate the ‘voice of the horse’ (through interpreting horse behaviour) to their riders.
The best quote of the day came from Huw Davies (a well known Welsh sheep farmer and member of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) who reminded us that, without good data or records we can always fool ourselves that we are being successful. A good reminder that production and welfare evaluations should always seek to be evidence-based!
No comments:
Post a Comment