Dalmau Antoni, Padilla Lorena, Varvaró-Porter Aranzazu, Xercavins Aida, Velarde Antonio, Contreras-Jodar Alexandra
Animal Welfare Program, IRTA, Monells, Girona, Spain.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Sep 30;11:1452109. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1452109. eCollection 2024.
It is estimated that 1.4 billion quails are reared each year for their eggs and meat, but animal welfare assessment protocols for this species have yet to be established. The objective of this study was to devise an animal welfare assessment protocol developed through a multidimensional approach that contained a number of animal-based indicators (ABIs) for quails () reared for meat production.
During 2021 and 2022, the identical auditor visited and audited 14 Spanish farms in their initial year of integration into an animal welfare certification scheme. The protocol is categorised into 4 principles and 12 criteria. The "good feeding" principle includes 6 indicators (1 ABI), "good housing" includes 10 indicators (5 ABIs), "good health" includes 12 indicators (9 ABIs), and "appropriate behaviour" contains 8 indicators (5 ABIs). The final welfare assessment is calculated at the farm level using scores from the on-farm recordings. The assessment is a step-by-step weighted sum of the scores from the various indicators, with the final score ranging between 0 and 100.
The main welfare issues found on all farms were a lack of temperature and humidity records, a poor lighting pattern, and the absence of an outdoor range or access to one. To a lesser degree, it was also found that there were excessive numbers of birds per feeder, the presence of improperly functioning drinkers (i.e., not working, inadequate water flow, or dripping water), poor litter quality, and a high prevalence of birds with dirty plumage and lameness. Despite this, the farms achieved a good overall score, being classified as "enhanced" ( = 11) and "acceptable" ( = 3). The tool proved helpful in identifying specific welfare issues at the farm level and conducting benchmarking.
据估计，每年有14亿只鹌鹑被饲养用于产蛋和肉用，但该物种的动物福利评估方案尚未建立。本研究的目的是设计一种通过多维度方法制定的动物福利评估方案，该方案包含一些用于肉用鹌鹑的基于动物的指标（ABIs）。
在2021年和2022年期间，同一名审核员对14家刚加入动物福利认证计划第一年的西班牙农场进行了走访和审核。该方案分为4个原则和12个标准。“良好饲养”原则包括6个指标（1个ABIs），“良好住房”包括10个指标（5个ABIs），“良好健康”包括12个指标（9个ABIs），“适当行为”包含8个指标（5个ABIs）。最终的福利评估是在农场层面根据农场记录的分数计算得出的。评估是对各个指标分数的逐步加权求和，最终分数在0到100之间。
在所有农场发现的主要福利问题是缺乏温度和湿度记录、光照模式不佳以及没有户外场地或无法进入户外场地。在较小程度上，还发现每个喂食器的鸟类数量过多、饮水器功能不正常（即不工作、水流不足或滴水）、垫料质量差以及羽毛脏污和跛行的鸟类患病率高。尽管如此，这些农场总体得分良好，被评为“改进型”（n = 11）和“可接受型”（n = 3）。该工具被证明有助于识别农场层面的具体福利问题并进行基准测试。
