Institute of

OF Organic Farming

Animal welfare

Animal welfare and animal-friendly livestock management are central in organic agriculture, which are firmly anchored in the IFOAM Basic Principles of Health and Justice (IFOAM 2014). These principles serve internationally as guidelines for organic agriculture and are also reflected in the production regulations for organic agriculture legally valid in the European Union.

Prevention is crucial to maintain herd health and welfare. In all parts of the environment behavioral and biological needs of the animals has to be taken into account in order reduce stress. On the other hand herd management and hygiene are needed to reduce infection prevalence and not to overstraine the adaptability of farm animals in the farm environment. Therefore the aim of the research is to focus on the development and enhancement of preventive management concepts to enhance animal health and welfare under practical conditions. Furthermore the aim is to focus on the identification and validation of animal based indicators to assess health and welfare of livestock on-farm. Epidemiologic topics such as the analysis of risk factors for certain production diseases are also under study.

Ongoing projects

ÖKoTier

Within the framework of organic inspections, various audit systems of the inspection bodies and the organic farming associations are currently applied to monitor animal welfare on farms. These concepts will be reviewed, further developed and standardized with regard to the criteria of validity, reliability and practicability, considering already existing indicator and assessment systems.

Animal welfare, competence and cooperation between learning locations

The project strengthens cooperation between learning locations in the agricultural sector and ensures the pedagogical professionalization of educational staff through animal welfare-oriented educational modules and teaching-learning settings.

Risk-based model for dairy herd welfare: Field data collection

Establishment an on-farm-research network for organic dairy farms

On-farm research with a continuous exchange between practice and research enables the sustainable transfer of findings into practice. Conversely, science receives impulses from practice for relevant research questions. What are the trends and developments in production systems? Through the establishment of a reference network comprising organic dairy farms, we seek to monitor and analyze ongoing practical advancements to ensure our insights remain current and relevant .

Biomarkers

One option to measure animal welfare objectively, is the recording of physiological parameters, so called bioindicators, that reflect the immune status of a heard as well as the stress level of the animals and that can be collected by minimal invasive sampling are of great importance for monitoring of animal welfare.

InnoRind - Cattle Innovation Network – sustainable cattle farming in Germany, considering animal welfare, environmental impacts and social acceptance

What does sustainable cattle farming in Germany look like, considering animal welfare, environmental impact and social acceptance? What changes can be implemented in housing and management of calves, beef and dairy cows?? Answers to these questions are to be provided by nine research farms as part of the InnoRind project.

Less antibiotics - higher mastitis risk?

Every use of antibiotics bears the risk for development of antibiotic resistances and to promote resistant bacteria. Thus, the use of such substances has to be questioned. In dairy farming antibiotic dry cow treatment is an important tool to reduce mastitis on herd level. Usually, if an indication exists, all quarters of an udder will be treated with antibiotics disregarding the infection status of the individual quarter. Therefore the question arises, whether it would be possible to minimize the use of antibiotics by quarterspecific treatment without increasing the infection risk of the ...

Calf rearing with cow contact: natural, healthy and feasible

For some years now, dairy farms have been successfully developing their very own procedures for cow-based rearing. Nevertheless, there are a number of open questions or problems for which no satisfactory solution has yet been found. This is where our practical project comes in:

sLowFeedChickIns

The main objective of the project is to sustainably improve the performance of organic husbandry systems for dual-purpose chickens under the aspects of resource-efficient raw material procurement, optimization of feeding and animal welfare.

Finished projects

MinimA

Maintaining the therapeutic efficiency of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine requires their strictly demand-oriented use. In our project, we apply this principle to the dry off treatment of dairy cows on farms.

Udder health and milk quality

Dairy goats can have mastitis like cows, mostly sub-clinical. In comparison with cows, there were no clear definition and indicators to measure udder health and "good" milk qualities.

Deworming only for individual animals - testing of thresholds in young cattle

Infections with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) endanger the grazing of cattle. Until now usually it was dewormed strategically. This is not sustainable and promotes Anthelmintic Resistance. Alternative methods will be tested.

Development of an animal-friendly feeding system for horned goats

Dairy goat farming is a growing business in Germany since more then one decade. In the same manner, there is a growing demand on extension for dairy goat farms regarding husbandry and management. Although there is some knowledge present, there is a lack of transer into practical dairy goat farming. That is the starting point for our new initiative Stable Schools for dairy farmers.

Stable Schools for goat farmers

Animal welfare in goat keeping

Goats are able to produce even without best keeping conditions. In organic farming is the target to have high animal welfare standards and good production performance. Several projects have developed high animal welfare standards for goats kept in stables and on pasture. Avoidance of manipulation is part of the research.

FAMACHA© color chart in the sheep and goat farming

A stomach parasite can cause life-threatening anemia in sheep and goats. The pallor of conjunctivae, compared with a color chart developed in South Africa indicates those animals that need to get dewormed. Is this method also useful and applicable in German farms?

Feasibility of animal welfare indicators in on-farm self-assessment

The German Animal Welfare Act requires livestock keepers to carry out on-farm self-assessments in order to ensure that housing conditions meet their animals’ need. But how can livestock farmers carry out objective assessments of animal welfare in their herds?

What effects do grassland and grazing management have on cow health and welfare?

More than a niche? The potential of dam rearing for marketing of milk and male calves

Some consumers ask for milk that is produced without separating cow and calf shortly after birth. We ask if dairy farmers will get more chances to market their products by dam rearing their calves.

More time with the mother - better for the calf?

Today, immediate separation of cow and calf after parturition is common in dairy farming. However, an alternative is the dam rearing system: Dam or foster cows suckle the calves and are additionally milked. We are investigating possible long-term effects on dairy heifers reared in that system.

Piglet nest

Organic pig husbandry aims at a high animal welfare standard, part of which is a low level of piglet losses. Ensuring that piglets are kept warm after farrowing, and protecting them against being crushed by the sow are measures to improve piglet survival. Both warmth and protection can be achieved by a well designed and frequently used piglet nest.

More iron for healthier piglets

The iron demand of suckling piglets cannot be met from sows´ milk alone, but relies on iron uptake from the environment (e.g. rooting). Because that´s not possible under modern housing conditions, iron must be supplemented.

Alternatives to castration

The acceptance of piglet castration is declining. Therefore, boar fattening could be an alternative. But the problems of boar taint are still not finally resolved.

Group suckling

The above mentioned project is part of a 5 parts joint project (06oe266) which focuses on nutrition, keeping, desinfection and temperature control in the organic piglet production.

MIX-ENABLE - Grazing together: cattle and broilers

Specialisation increases also in organic farming. Even if there are more than one species on a farm they usually will be managed separately. Partners from seven EU-countries investigate the potential of a higher integration between farm components

Pasture based fattening of male dairy calves – an option for the future?

Today, immediate separation of cow and calf after parturition is common in dairy farming. However, an alternative is the dam Pasture based fattening of male dairy calves – an option for the future?

Cows on organic farms - looked at through interdisciplinary glasses

Studies have shown:Cows in organic dairy farms are not healthier and face mastiis as well as metabolic disorders. This joint research project aimed for an interdisciplinary approach to that phenomenon.

Lameness in breeding sows

Sows in conventional husbandry often suffer from diseases in their locomotor systems, leg injuries and lameness. What is the situation on organic farms where pigs have outdoor runs? What risk factors have the most influence here?

Animal welfare in dairy husbandry with a system – from farm self-monitoring to national monitoring

Significant, valid and evidence-based indicators to evaluate animal welfare in livestock husbandry are now available. Lacking is a comprehensive monitoring of automatically documentable animal-related indicators that make animal welfare measurable and comparable. In our project Q-Check, indicators for animal health from existing analyses and documentation systems shall be used.

Stable Schools to improve animal health and welfare

Udder diseases and metabolism problems, typical production diseases, also play a great role in organic dairy husbandry. In a pilot study we studied the extent to which Stable Schools are suited as an innovative concept to improve the health situation with consultations in the participating dairy farms. Stable Schools base on mutual learning: problems in the own farm are discussed and solved together with other farmers.

National Animal Welfare Monitoring

The interdisciplinary project "National Animal Welfare Monitoring" aims to develop the basis for reporting on the status quo and the development of animal welfare in livestock farming.

Indicators for a Payment-by-Results Approach for Animal Welfare Measures and Organic Farming

According to Eurobarometer surveys, most consumers desire adequate housing and living circumstances for farm animals. But which indicators are most suitable for the measurement of animal welfare and how can animal welfare policies be implemented in a result-oriented way? This research question is adressed by the Thünen-Insitut of Organic Farming and the Thünen-Institut of Farm Economics.

Decision Trees for Deworming

Control of gastrointestinal worms of grazing ruminants is crucial to animal health and farmer’s economic success. At the same time the smallest possible amount of drugs is to be used.

Animal Health in Organic Farming - Publications between 1991 and 2011

The aim of the study is to describe the status quo and to identify further research regarding animal health in organic husbandry by literature study.

Establishment of web-based decision trees for parasite prophylaxis through future-oriented pasture management in agricultural practice and consultancy

Pasture husbandry is considered to be particularly animal appropriate and is, according to polls, desired by consumers. However younger animals in particular are often afflicted with infections by gastrointestinal parasites while at pasture. Previously developed decision trees available online could be an aid in future-oriented pasture planning. How do farms perceive the work with this online tool? Can it provide support in pasture management to individual farms? Does it reduce the stress on the animals or does the use of the decision tree lead to less use of anthelmintics? These questions are ...

Outdoor keeping of suckler cows and beef cattle in winter

Outdoor keeping of suckler cows and beef cattle in winter is a traditional housing system in Canada. Cattle herds are kept on a limited area without roofed shelter but providing wind protection walls.

PPillow - Poultry and Pig Low-input and Organic production systems’ Welfare

Organic and low-input poultry farming has increased in the EU over the last decade for ethical and socio-economic reasons. However, there are still some unresolved issues in these farming systems, particularly in relation to animal health and mortality problems. The acceptance by consumers and practitioners, in particular with regard to the killing of day-old male layer chicks, has clearly declined. Furthermore, European citizens expect guarantees for improved animal welfare, safety and quality of poultry meat and eggs in these systems. Therefore, there is a need to improve animal welfare in ...

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