Luc Mounier

VetAgro Sup · health and animal production

Pasture is generally perceived as positive for dairy cow welfare, but it nevertheless exposes cows to heat, parasites, and other challenges. This review is intended for people ready to design comprehensive protocols for assessing the welfare of dairy cows at pasture. We provide an overview of the benefits and risks of pasture for cows, and then go...

The Welfare Quality® consortium has developed and proposed standard protocols for monitoring farm animal welfare. The uptake of the dairy cattle protocol has been below expectation, however, and it has been criticized for the variable quality of the welfare measures and for a limited number of measures having a disproportionally large effect on the...

This chapter focuses on the performance characteristics a welfare measure should possess in order to be considered valid for the assessment of animal welfare. It presents a choice of validation measures that can be used to assess the welfare of cattle and discusses ways they can be collected in practice. The chapter also presents the various defini...

Official inspections to check the compliance of farms with European legislation to protect farm animals are often perceived negatively by farmers. In addition, the inspections have a limited effect on improving farm compliance. We looked at the perceptions of both farmers and their inspectors about animal welfare and the inspections in a case study...

Maladjusted cubicles for dairy cattle may cause increased skin alterations, lameness, and dirtiness. The International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering has produced several recommendations for cubicle design, but a previous study showed that not all of them seem efficient. Here, we aim to refine and complete these recommendatio...

This clinical case describes a 14‐year‐old Gypsy Cob gelding presented for suspected impaired vision. Given the apparently insidious presentation, bilateral equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) was strongly suspected. ERU management was addressed both clinically and from a welfare point of view. Treatment using ointment was preferred to eye drops to redu...

The design of self-locking barriers can affect cows’ skin injuries and impair welfare. This study aimed to propose and refine recommendations, expressed relatively to the cows’ dimensions, for self-locking barrier design to reduce risks for skin injuries on the neck/shoulder/back and on carpus of dairy cows. We recorded individual body dimensions a...

Design of cubicles and self-locking barriers can affect cow skin alterations, lameness, and dirtiness. We investigated whether the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR, Gainesville, FL)-recommended cattle housing design and dimensions actually improve cow welfare. We recorded individual cow body dimensions and a...

Design of cubicles and self-locking barriers can affect cow skin alterations, lameness, and dirtiness. We investigated whether the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR, Gainesville, FL)-recommended cattle housing design and dimensions actually improve cow welfare. We recorded individual cow body dimensions and a...

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cow reproductive performance and welfare evaluated at the herd level using the Welfare Quality protocol. The 11 criteria, four principles (good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behavior, scale 0–100) and overall welfare category (excellent/enhanced/acceptable/not classified...

The Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol for on-farm dairy cattle welfare assessment describes 33 measures and a step-wise method to integrate the outcomes into 12 criteria scores, grouped into four principle scores and into an overall welfare categorisation with four possible levels. The relative contribution of various welfare measures to the integrate...

Cet article fait le point sur les relations entre le bien-être animal en élevage et les performances de reproduction des bovins. Si l’amélioration du bien-être de ces derniers répond à des attentes sociétales fortes, elle a également un objectif technique pour l’éleveur puisqu’une augmentation des performances de reproduction peut en résulter. Le v...

Cet article fait lepoint sur l’influencedes pratiques de lareproduction sur lebien-être en élevage.Ce dernier est définipar quatre grandsprincipes : bonnealimentation, bonnesanté, bon logementet comportementapproprié. Dela fécondationau sevrage, lesdifférentes pratiquesde reproduction ontun impact positif ounégatif sur le bienêtredes animaux.Le vét...

In the European Union, at least 1% of farms are inspected every year and sanctions are applied to those that do not comply with the legislation on animal welfare. These on-farm inspections can result in measures to correct welfare problems detected. They can also highlight major risks that will require a focus of efforts and help prevent further no...

The Welfare Quality (WQ) protocol for on-farm dairy cattle welfare assessment describes 27 measures and a stepwise method for integrating values for these measures into 11 criteria scores, grouped further into 4 principle scores and finally into an overall welfare categorization with 4 levels. We conducted an online survey to examine whether traine...

Le confort du logement a depuis longtemps été reconnu comme un élément clé dans la gestion des boiteries chez les bovins. Une durée trop longue passée avec les pieds sur du béton prédispose aux affections de la corne, tandis que des défauts d’hygiène sont un facteur clé dans l’apparition et le maintien de la dermatite digitée et du fourchet. Un déf...

Human-animal relationships are essential for dairy farming. They affect work comfort and efficiency, as well as milk production. A poor human-animal relationship can result in stress and accidents to both animals and caretakers and needs to be improved. However, many studies have demonstrated the multifactoriality of these relationships. We aimed a...

Editorial: Pigs crying, silent fish and other stories about animal welfare assessment - Volume 10 Issue 2 - I. Veissier, H. Spoolder, J. Rushen, L. Mounier

The aim of this study was to compare the responses in fattening performance and meat composition to high-concentrate diets rich in either starch and lipids (especially omega-3 fatty acids) or fibrous by-products. A total of 140 Charolais bulls (initially 319 ± 27 kg BW) were allocated to 3 high-concentrate diets and fattened for up to 18 months. Th...

Numéro Hors-Série ; Session : Différenciation de l'offre par la qualitéPartenaires des JSMTV 2014 : Polytech Clermont-Ferrand, France.VetAgro Sup, Institut d'Enseignement Supérieur et de Recherche en Alimentation, Santé Animale, Sciences Agronomiques et de l'Environnement, France.ADIV, Association pour le Développement de l'Institut de la Viande, F...

The overall aim of the project was to evaluate the use of routinely collected animal based measures (ABMs) for an evaluation of the overall animal welfare in dairy cow herds. ABMs being able to detect worst adverse effects in relation to animal welfare were identified based on the existing literature and expert opinion. The validity and robustness...

Animal welfare enhancement requires that problems are reliably identified and ranked in order to prioritise corrective actions. Welfare problems vary with the conditions in which animals are maintained. The objectives were to highlight major welfare problems for dairy cows on farms in France, and find out how farm characteristics (housing and milki...

One important requirement for animal welfare is to maintain animals free from pain, injury or disease.Therefore, detecting and evaluating the intensity of animal pain is crucial. Since animals cannot directlycommunicate their feelings sensitive and specific indicators easy to use have to be identified. Behaviouralchanges associated with pain are on...

Pain in animals: mechanisms and clinical signs fAnimal pain is a subjective concept, which depends on both sensory-discriminative and emotional components. This implies the existence of several types of pain, the expression of which varies according to the affected tissue, and the modification of nociceptive perception. The practitioner can attempt...

Behavioural criteria for assessing pain in ruminant livestock fThe animal may express pain by withdrawal reflexes, movements or postures to avoid or relieve the pain, vocalisations or a change in its social behaviour and level of activity. These signs are suggestive for the practitioner, but must, however, be differentiated from certain unspecific...

Objectifs : Mettre en évidence les problèmes de bien-être des vaches laitières et déterminer si les caractéristiques des exploitations agricoles peuvent être associées à ceux-ci. Méthode : Visite de 131 exploitations laitières françaises, classées selon la localisation géographique, le nombre de vaches en lactation, leur race, les systèmes de logem...

Une étude a exploré l’hypothèse selon laquelle la production laitière pourrait être réduite dans les troupeaux bovins dont le niveau de bien-être est dégradé. Ainsi, l’association entre le niveau de bien-être du troupeau (évalué à l’aide du protocole Welfare Quality®) et la production laitière a été étudiée dans 125 troupeaux bovins laitiers frança...

6. International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at the Farm and Group Level ; Clermont-Ferrand (France) - (2014-09-03 - 2014-09-05) / Conférence

Under the assumption that milk yield may be reduced in herds with impaired welfare, the present study aimed at investigating whether milk yield could be used as a reliable indicator of welfare. In 125 commercial French dairy herds, the association between the welfare of the herd (evaluated using the Welfare Quality assessment protocol) and cow milk...

Extensive information is available in the literature on the specific risk factors of the main health disorders afflicting dairy cattle herds. However, it remains difficult to manage a herd’s overall health because measures controlling one risk factor can exacerbate the risk of another disease. To achieve good overall health, livestock systems and m...

Dairy cattle spend most of the winter time indoors. Appropriate housing facilities-especially resting areas-are important to their welfare. As the selection for high milk production was accompanied by an increase in cows’ size, it is important for farmers to take into account cows’ dimensions when designing housing equipment in order to allow their...

In most social interactions, an animal has to determine whether the other animal belongs to its own species. This perception may be visual and may involve several cognitive processes such as discrimination and categorization. Perceptual categorization is likely to be involved in species characterized by a great phenotypic diversity. As a consequenc...

One important objective for animal welfare is to maintain animals free from pain, injury or disease. Therefore, detecting and evaluating the intensity of animal pain is crucial. As animals cannot directly communicate their feelings, it is necessary to identify sensitive and specific indicators that can be easily used. The aim of the present paper i...

The objectives of the study were i) to highlight negative and variable aspects of dairy cow welfare in commercial farms, and ii) to determine which farm characteristics were associated with impaired welfare. We assessed welfare using the Welfare Quality ® protocol in 131 commercial farms that differed in location (highlands vs. lowlands), cow breed...

In most social interactions, an animal has to determine whether the other animal belongs to its own species. This perception may be visual and may involve several cognitive processes such as discrimination and categorization. Perceptual categorization is likely to be involved in species characterized by a great phenotypic diversity. As a consequenc...

En élevage laitier, on rencontre de plus en plus de logettes avec des tapis et matelas composés de différents matériaux. Parallèlement, certains éleveurs recouvrent les sols des couloirs avec du caoutchouc. Dans les deux cas, un ensemble de règles sont à respecter pour garantir le bien-être des animaux. Pour les tapis et les matelas, plus l’épaisse...

Concerns about new trends in the veterinary profession in several industrialized countries have received significant attention recently. We conducted an online survey among first-year veterinary students enrolled between 2005 and 2008 in France's four National Veterinary Schools (Ecoles Nationales Vétérinaires [ENV]) to inquire into what determined...

La formation initiale des futurs professionnels constitue un enjeu majeur pour faire correspondre au mieux l'offre de prestations vétérinaires et les besoins de la société. Une série d'enquêtes ont été menées dans les quatre écoles nationales vétérinaires françaises. Elles visaient à connaître les motivations et les choix d'activité des étudiants e...

Consideration of the welfare of animals in breeding establishments has become paramount. The aim of the European project, Welfare Quality, is to evaluate the aspects of welfare to take into consideration from the point of view of the animal. Four principles must be respected in order to guarantee the welfare of the animal: food, comfort, health and...

La demande d'une visite "bien-être" peut provenir d'une obligation pour l'éleveur de respecter des normes, être consécutive à une plainte ou à une baisse de productivité. Le bien-être est subjectif, mais il doit être évalué de manière la plus objective possible, à l'aide de critères comportementaux, physiologiques, zootechniques et sanitaires. Néan...

The present paper describes the main procedures used to slaughter fowl, pigs, calves and adult cattle, sheep, and farmed fish, starting on the farm and ending with the death of the animal at the abattoir. It reviews the currently known causes of stress, indicated by behavioural and physiological measurements on the animal level, and by post-mortem...

Le suivi de reproduction dans les élevages de vaches laitières est réalisé depuis des décennies. Ce service vétérinaire est très apprécié par la plupart des éleveurs. Cependant, dans un certain nombre de cas, l´éleveur n´est pas ou plus satisfait de ce service, car des problèmes persistent ou il n´y a pas de progrès. On peut constater que, dans ce...

Transfer to slaughter may be very stressful for cattle and negatively affect their ultimate carcass pH. A potential link between farmers' attitudes, farmers' behaviour responses of animals to handling and carcass pH in beef bull production was questioned. Whether carcass pH depends on experiences in handling and social mixing was analysed We conduc...

Malgré les progrès de ces dernières années, la période de pré-abattage est une source de stress pour les animaux. Les procédés d’abattage nécessitent des regroupements et des mélanges d’animaux, l’enlèvement du milieu habituel et l’introduction dans des environnements non familiers, le transport, la manipulation par l’homme et le jeûne, et entraîne...

L’élevage des ruminants est caractérisé par une diversité importante de conduites et de pratiques ayant un impact sur le bien-être des animaux. En plein air, les animaux peuvent être exposés à des variations climatiques. En bâtiment, la liberté des mouvements et la qualité de l’aire de couchage sont des facteurs déterminants du confort ressenti par...

Ruminant production is characterised by a large diversity in husbandry systems and management practices that can influence the animals' welfare. For example, housing conditions are important. In outdoor rearing systems, climate changes can provoke thermal stress and health problems. Indoors, factors such as freedom of movement and type of lying sur...

Despite progress made in recent years, the pre-slaughter period remains stressful for animals. Current slaughter procedures involve regrouping and mixing animals, removing them from their familiar environment and introducing them into unfamiliar settings, transporting, handling, and depriving them of food, and are sometimes associated with poor qua...

Malgré les progrès de ces dernières années, la période de pré-abattage est une source de stress pour les animaux. Les procédés d’abattage nécessitent des regroupements et des mélanges d’animaux, l’enlèvement du milieu habituel et l’introduction dans des environnements non familiers, le transport, la manipulation par l’homme et le jeûne, et entraîne...

Le veau: de la naissance au sevrage

In France, beef bulls are finished by breeder-finishers who produce calves and then fatten them, or by specialized finishers who fatten bulls that they buy. According to previous results on both dairy cows and pigs, breeding on the farm promotes positive attitudes of farmers towards animals, which can lead to improved animal health and growth. The...

Animals are subjected to various events that cause physical exhaustion and psychological stress during transfer to slaughter. This can lead to defective meat quality. Some animals may be better able to withstand the stress of transfer, depending on their previous experience of transport and on their finishing conditions (mixing, farmers' attitudes)...

Cattle establish strong preferential associations early in their life that determine the cohesiveness within a group and can diminish fear responses (i.e. social buffering). Mixing beef bulls at the beginning of fattening may lead to less cohesiveness. Moreover, mixing beef bulls induces aggressive interactions, especially when the bulls are of sim...

In some production settings, beef bulls are mixed at the beginning of the finishing period to obtain homogeneous groups to facilitate finishing and to produce more homogeneous carcasses. Given the stress induced by mixing, we questioned whether this practice was profitable. Sixty-four young bulls were finished in groups of four over 8 mo. They were...

L'agrandissement des lots d'engraissement aboutit à une spécialisation des éleveurs, et une augmentation du nombre d'animaux réallotés en début d'engraissement. Nous avons estimé l'impact de la spécialisation des éleveurs sur la santé et les performances de production des animaux en comparant des lots de taurillons réallotés et engraissés soit par...