Indicators Relevant to Farm Animal Welfare

The CEC-seminar on "Indicators relevant to Animal Welfare" was held on November 9 - 10, 1982 at the Institut fUr Tierzucht und Tierverhalten, Mariensee, of the Bundesforschungsanstal t fUr Landwirtschaft (FAL) * It was the intention of this meeting to outline the present state of know- ledge on proven and potential indicators and to discuss their applica- bility in the assessment of farm animal management systems. After an introduction of the legal and material aspects of animal welfare, the following topics were dealt with : - Significance of indicators relevant to animal welfare - Integrated systems of indicators relevant to animal welfare - Applicability of indicators in animal welfare research and control procedures. The concluding discussion focussed on the applicability of indicators in science and in practice. As a result of the seminar, the presently known indicators can be grouped into the following categories : - indicators already being applied to animal welfare assessment in prac- tice, such as morbidity and mortality, technopathies, behavioural aberrations and production performances; - indicators of high sensitivity, such as physiological criteria, which as yet are too demanding for general application; - indicators still under investigation for their reliability. It became also evident that the continuous integration of indicators into canprehensive assessment systems promises an ever improving judgement of animal welfare problems. The proceedings will be of substantial value to the CEC in the pursuit of animal welfare problems.