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Behaviour and Welfare of Farm Animals
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:08:19
Abstract
The welfare of farm animals is a major increasing concern to the public, as well as to stakeholders in the global agro-food system. Ethology is a key element of animal welfare sciences as it allows us to know what animals need. In this course we will discuss specifically the challenges faced by farm animals and the behavioural research used to address them.
Objective
Students will - Acquire and put in practice the knowledge and skills needed to understand and assess the behaviour and welfare of farm animals - Achieve an understanding and awareness of welfare challenges farm animals face - Be able to critically analyze and discuss published welfare research data - Be able to summarize and communicate scientific data
Content
The course will divide in 2 parts: A series of 12 lectures on the welfare challenges associated with the main phases of the husbandry of farm animals, from birth to slaughter, and some complementary topics that will enlarge knowledge and reflection of students on the topics: cognition, precision livestock farm and a discussion on the ethics of keeping farm animals. The second part will consist of 6 practical days where the students will work on designing experiments, collecting, analysing and summarising behavioural data in the form or reports and oral presentations. Data collection will take place at Agro-Vet Strickhof. The final grade will be based on a written exam (50 %) and 2 reports and 1 oral presentation during the practical days (50%).
Resources
Lecture Notes
Power point presentations of the lecture will be provided.
Literature
Further literature and internet links will be mentioned during the lecture. A very useful book: Bateson, M., & Martin, P. (2021). Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108776462
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise |
Behaviour and Welfare of Farm Animals
The course takes place during the semester on Mon 14-16 in LFW C4 and in on five Fridays at Agro-Vet Strickhof for the data collection on animals (or otherwise in LFW). An additional day will be determined during the semester.
|
|
3 h weekly |