AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

The first reports published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) tried to identify environment and management indicators of poor welfare, because this approach corresponded to a quick and easy assessment. Consequently most European legislation on farm animal welfare was supported on these resource-based indicators. However, good management and access to an adequate environment do not necessarily result in a high standard of welfare. More recently the advantages of measuring welfare through animal-based indicators – the way in which the animal itself responds and copes with its surroundings – have become evident. In this paper we will review the process of testing animal-based indicators for validity (Does it measure what we think it measures? Does it relate to the animals experience?), reliability (Would it be recorded in the same way by more than one assessor? Would the same assessor record it in the same way on more than one occasion?) and feasibility (Can it be measured on farm in a reasonable manner?)