Abstract :
The present study was undertaken to evaluate the inter-observer reliability of a welfare
monitoring scheme to be applied to sheep, and compare the welfare state of the animals
between 10 organic and 10 conventional sheep farms. Two trained observers performed
recordings. A graded point protocol was used, that relies on five sheets mostly derived by
the Animal Needs Index, which is mainly based on resource-based parameters. Therefore,
in the fifth sheet animal-based parameters, deemed relevant to sheep welfare, were taken
into account. In particular, the following animal-based variableswere assessed: integument
alterations, animal dirtiness, hoof overgrowth, lameness and lesions, which where scored
on the basis of their prevalence (number of affected animals/numbers of observed animals),
longevity (age in years), and mutilations, such as de-horning and caudotomy, evaluated in
terms of presence/absence. No significant differences were observed between organic and
conventional farms in terms of ANI scores, housing characteristics and animal-based parameters.
This result was not surprising, as most of the farms, both conventional and organic,
based their farming systems on an extensive use of the land by grazing animals. The monitoring
protocol proved to be feasible (the mean time needed to perform the assessment of
welfare was 85 min per farm) and reliable: a significant Spearman’s correlation coefficient
between observers was observed for total score and all sheets. As to animal-based parameters,
body condition could not be assessed visually due to the presence of flee in winter; the
correlation between observers was significant for integument alterations, animal dirtiness,
hoof overgrowth and lameness, whereas inter-observer reliability was not significant for
lesions. This result indicated that more training is needed for the assessment of lesions in
order to increase the reliability of the measure. In addition, we suggest visiting farms in
early summer, soon after shearing, in order to make easier the detection of lesions and the
assessment of body condition.
