Nutrition and the Welfare of Farm Animals

Editors: Phillips, Clive J. C. (Ed.)
No other book has ever addressed nutrition and welfare of farm animals in such a comprehensive manner
The book opens up a new chapter in providing for the welfare of farm animals, which until now have focused mainly on effects of the housing environment of the animals and some mutilations
The book highlights the importance of the nutritional environment for animal welfare, and gives examples of inadequate feeding and its effects on farm animals
The book has contributions from leading nutritionists and animal welfare

This book explores the importance of good nutrition in ensuring an adequate standard of welfare for farm animals. It is often not realized that farm animals can suffer when they are fed unsuitable diets, which may be because these diets are more economic or the farmer does not know how to rectify poor nutrition. This book reveals how to recognize and deal with feeding problems in farm animals, when the animal’s behaviour is indicating a deficiency, through oral stereotypies for example. Feeding livestock in emergency situations can present special challenges, and the availability of clean and potable water, one of the essential components of life, can also be an unrecognized problem for many farm animals. Feeding farm animals effectively is rarely recognized for the major welfare issue that it is. We may assume that animals in intensive husbandry conditions have adequate feed, yet it is often too concentrated and designed primarily to immediately maximize production from the animals, in the form of growth, milk yield or reproduction. In extensive rangeland conditions adequate feed supply also cannot be assured, potentially leading to undernutrition with serious consequences for the health and even survival of livestock. This book will provide a much-needed review of the relationships between nutrition and the welfare of farm animals.

Number of Illustrations and Tables
10 b/w illustrations, 8 illustrations in colour
Topics
Agriculture
Veterinary Medicine
Animal Physiology
Nutrition
Vertebrates

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