The larger the stable, the sicker the animals?

studied influence of the size of a livestock animal health - Inconsistent results emphasize issues statements standard

The stocks in livestock grow continuously. Many environmental and animal welfare organizations believe that animals are kept less humanely in large companies than in small. Much of the agricultural associations, veterinarians and agronomists holds against that less stock size, but rather accounting procedures and management are critical to the welfare of animals. With her master's thesis on "Influence of animal stocks in pig farms on animal behavior and animal health" has Aileen Ernst, student of agronomy, adopted this public debate.

Does the size of a livestock impact on animal welfare? - The key question of the study, which has followed the student. But she has analyzed national and international empirical studies on animal health and behavior with regard to the influence of stocks. While so far available for the animal behavior hardly Untersuchun¬gen, Aileen Ernst found for Animal Health robust results in the literature.

An important result of the jointly managed by the Braunschweiger Thünen Institute of Management and the Department of Animal Sciences, University of Göttingen Master work: what influence the number of livestock has on animal health in pig farming, can not be assessed a flat rate. While the stock size for diseases such as influenza in pigs or piglets so-called cough (Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae) is not a factor, its effect on MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and toxoplasmosis can be regarded as proven. However, what many may surprise: In toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by parasites infectious disease that mainly affects cats, but also other mammals, the risk of infection is lowered according to study situation with increasing herd size.

The situation is different with MRSA: Several studies have the germs can demonstrate more common in large companies both in pigs as well as in breeding sows. They are resistant to the antibiotics commonly used and can cause human wound infections and pneumonia. Hoogstraten they previously mainly in hospital, there are now frequent 2005 evidence in people who had contact to MRSA infected animals.

can lead for pleurisy, a bacterial or viral induced pleurisy, and PRRS, a viral infection that in decreased litter size and birth of dead or weak piglets, the situation is mixed. While some scientific studies could find no relationship between stock size and disease, hold other fixed tapeworm infections is increasing with increasing herd size.

The study shows that there is apparently no general effect relationship between population size and higher susceptibility to disease in pigs. Some diseases occur regardless of the size of stocks, so you are well advised in discussions on the subject, to distinguish accurately, at what type of disease it is concrete.

Source:

Aileen Ernst: "Influence of animal stocks in pig farms on animal behavior and animal health", Master's thesis at the Department of Animal Sciences, University of Göttingen (2013).

Source: Göttingen [Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute]