Animal welfare

EIP- Animal Welfare-Check

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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.

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.

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:

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:

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?

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.

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.

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 ...

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.