Although the welfare of farm mink has been debated for decades, the status at mink farms has not previously been reported. Likewise, little is known about the variation in housing conditions and animal responses between mink farms, although relevant for identifying key opportunities and challenges. ...

This report compares the welfare on mink farms in Denmark and the rest of Europe, based on the results from WelFur. WelFur-Mink is a system for on-farm assessment of animal welfare in European mink farms based on the principles developed in Welfare Quality®. WelFur has been implemented on...

24 pairs of monozygotic twin dairy cows (Danish Friesian and Red Danish) were assigned to 4 groups of 12 in a balanced incomplete-block design. Group E: loose housing; ad lib. access to feeding table; deep bedding; a yard and pasture; and milking twice a day. Group N: tie stall; concrete floor plus ...

In dairy production, mastitis is a major problem affecting animal welfare, productivity, and economy. Hospital pens are typically not used for cows with mastitis, except for severe cases involving recumbency. This field trial included 47 cows from three Danish herds followed for 8 d, of which days...

The dairy industry faces major challenges with high levels of lameness, in parallel to an increased consumer focus on animal welfare. This encourages farmers to consider more robust breeds, such as Jersey cows. As little is known about the behavior of this breed under loose housing conditions, the...

The aim of the study was to test adrenal mass (NNM) as a post-mortem indicator of chronic stress in pigs. The question was examined as to whether housing systems that meet the animals' needs for outdoor climate stimuli and burrowing areas or good health lead to reduced NNM (less stress/negative...

High indoor temperatures in traditional finisher pig buildings may lead to deteriorating production results, increased pen fouling and increased respiration rate and rectal temperature. Floor cooling may improve the thermal conditions for pigs on solid floors during warm periods, and therefore the...

From the day after farrowing, 8 pig litters born to sows kept in loose housing, were given the choice of remaining with their dam in the unheated farrowing pen, going into adjacent open pens with a 100 Watt heating lamp or into similar pens provided with a curtain made from strips of plastic. The...

The hypothesis that an increase in the straw bedded resting area for group housed heifers would increase synchronization of resting behaviour and decrease aggressive and abnormal behaviour was tested. An experiment was conducted on 2 Danish commercial dairy farms with 20 Danish Friesian heifers...