Browsing by Subject "Nutztiere"

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Environmental enrichment in intensive production systems for farm animals
(2010) Jordan, Dušanka; Bessei, Werner
Barren and space restricted environment of intensive production systems thwarts the expression of numerous behavioural patterns due to inadequate stimulation. Consequently, animals may develop various abnormal and damaging behaviours or may be in general less active, which contributes to the expression of leg disorders, especially in fast growing animals. These problems may be alleviated with appropriate environmental enrichment, therefore the objective of the thesis was to elucidate the appropriateness of selected environmental enrichments in fattening pigs, growing rabbits, laying hens and fast growing broilers. For this purpose, four studies were conducted. In the first study we wanted to examine the effect of small amount of straw or hay (100 g per animal per day) laid daily in a rack on the behaviour, growth rate and carcass composition of fattening pigs of both sexes (castrated males, females) housed in slatted floor pens. In the second study we studied the influence of gnawing sticks made of Norway spruce (Picea abies) on the behaviour of male growing rabbits (Slovenian sire line SIKA for meat production) housed individually in wire-mesh cages. The third study included laying hens with enhanced diet complexity ? instead of only one, hens were fed two diets in sequence. We studied the effect of sequential feeding with wheat on the behaviour, feed intake, feather condition and egg production of non beak-trimmed ISA Brown laying hens housed in standard cages (five birds/cage). The birds were allotted to one of four treatments. The control (C) was fed a conventional complete diet. Three treatments were fed sequentially with whole wheat (SWW), ground wheat (SGW) or ground wheat with a vitamin premix, phosphorus and oil (SGWI). In sequential treatments, 50% of the ration was fed as wheat from 9:00 to 16:00 o?clock and the remaining 50% as a protein-mineral concentrate (balancer diet) from 16:00 to 9:00 o?clock. In the fourth study we examined the effect of environmental enrichment on foraging behaviour, locomotor activity, growth and feed conversion of fast growing broilers (Ross 308). Animals were allotted to three treatments. The control birds (C) were fed with pellets in a trough, the W birds received additionally to pellets in a trough a small quantity of whole wheat scattered twice a day in the litter. In the P treatment the trough was removed at 14 days of age and feed pellets were scattered in the litter five times a day. Environmental enrichment of fattening pigs with small amount of hay or straw increased the proportion of time animals were active on account of increased occupation with substrate. However, increased proportion of total activity was noticed only in females, which also spent more time chewing substrate than castrated males. Both substrates significantly reduced time spent biting pen bars and the frequency of aggressive encounters. Neither hay nor straw negatively influenced pigs? growth rate and lean meat percentage, whereas sex of the animals significantly influenced both traits. Females grew slower and had greater lean meat percentage than castrated males. In contrast to fattening pigs, environmental enrichment had almost no influence on the behaviour of growing rabbits. Gnawing sticks made of Norway spruce did not attract much of rabbits? interest and significantly influenced only the duration of feeding by 2.08 ± 0.87%. In laying hens, SWW birds spent less time feeding and stood still longer compared to birds in other treatments when fed wheat based diet. This influenced the occurrence of feather pecking, because four hours after distribution of wheat diets, feather pecking was the highest in the SWW and the lowest in the SGW treatment. Consequently, the poorest feather condition was recorded in the SWW treatment. Total feed intake was the highest in the C treatment, while birds ate greater amount of balancer diet compared to wheat based diets. In fast growing broilers, the environmental enrichment with scattered whole wheat (W) did not influence any of the observed behaviour. However, scattering feed pellets in the litter (P) significantly decreased time spent lying in the third and fourth week of age. From the third week onwards, P birds also spent more time walking, scratching and pecking compared to the C and W birds. In feed intake, feed conversion and growth rate there was no difference between the C and W treatment, whereas birds in the P treatment grew significantly slower, which resulted in 13% lower slaughter weight. To conclude, small amount of hay and straw proved to be an appropriate and inexpensive environmental enrichment for fattening pigs in intensive housing systems, which improved their welfare. The addition of wooden sticks for gnawing demonstrated to be an unsuitable environmental enrichment for growing rabbits. Sequential feeding with wheat had a detrimental effect on laying hens? behaviour and feather condition when used with whole wheat. Therefore, wheat should be used either grounded or perhaps presented in shorter time periods. In fast growing broilers, scattering feed pellets in the litter proved to be a promising method to enhance broilers? activity and thus to improve their welfare. However, further research is needed to be able to avoid reduction in body weight at slaughter age.
Incomes and asset poverty dynamics and child health among pastoralists in Northern Kenya
(2016) Mburu, Samuel; Sousa-Poza, Alfonso
In chapter one we identified the levels, sources, and trends of household incomes across the five survey waves. We also estimated and compared the income and asset poverty levels. Income poverty was estimated using imputed household income relative to the adjusted poverty line and asset poverty using a regression-based asset index and tropical livestock units (TLU) per capita. Our results indicate that keeping livestock is still the pastoralists’ main source of livelihood, although there is a notable trend of increasing livelihood diversification, especially among livestock-poor households. Majority of the households (over 70%) are both income and livestock poor with few having escaped poverty within the five-year study period. Disaggregating income and asset poverty also reveals an increasing trend of both structurally poor and stochastically non-poor households. The findings show that the TLU-based asset poverty is a more appropriate measure of asset poverty in a pastoral setting. In chapter two we explored the household welfare dynamics among pastoral households in the study area. First, we developed a microeconomic model to analyze the impact of a shock (e.g., a drought) on the behavioral decisions of pastoralists. Secondly, we estimated the existence of single or multiple dynamic equilibria that may constitute an asset poverty trap. We used the tropical livestock units (TLUs) to establish the shape of asset dynamics to locate the welfare equilibria for the sampled households. We also estimated the household characteristics and covariate environmental factors that influence livestock accumulation over time. We use both non-parametric and semi-parametric techniques to establish the shape of asset accumulation path and determine whether multiple equilibria exist. From the model, we found that a negative shock like a drought leads to an immediate decrease in livestock followed by a smooth reduction in consumption. Because the shock also affects the local economy, it prompts a wage decrease, which reinforces the pastoralist’s incentives to tend his own livestock and reduce time spent in the external labor market. Whereas the pastoralist’s labor time allocation shows a pattern of quick convergence, however, the adjustment of other variables such as consumption and capital takes much longer. Food aid helps in smoothening consumption especially among households with few livestock. We established that livestock assets converge to a single stable equilibrium implying that households remained livestock poor in the short term. Such convergence to a stable equilibrium could result from households with more livestock smoothening their consumption during times of food shortage by drawing on their herds for sale or consumption while livestock poor households smoothen their assets by using coping strategies that do not deplete their few livestock holdings. Poor households thus destabilized their consumption to buffer and protect their few assets for future income and survival. We also found that forage availability and herd diversity influenced livestock accumulation over time. In chapter three we established the extent of malnutrition among children by analyzing the levels of malnutrition among children aged five years and below. Additionally, we estimated the effects of drought, measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), on child health outcomes. When the lack of sufficient rainfall reduces the levels of vegetative greenness, the corresponding lower NDVI values indicate forage scarcity. We followed the approach by Chantarat et al. (2012) and transformed the pure NDVI values to z-scores. We used the average NDVI Z-score values from long dry season (June, July, August, and September) for each survey year, extracted from four regions within Marsabit District. We then proxied the nutritional status of children using the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). We adjusted the MUAC for the age and sex of the child by converting the values to a MUAC Z-score based on WHO growth charts, as Z-scores are found to be better indicators of wasting than the fixed cut-off value (WHO 2009). The results show that malnutrition among children is prevalent in the study area, with approximately 20% of the children being malnourished and a one standard deviation increase in NDVI z-score decreases the probability of child malnourishment by 12–16 percent. The livestock insurance seems to be an effective risk management tool, as it slightly reduces the probability of malnutrition among children. Child health is also impacted by local conditions and family characteristics, which leave older children worse off than younger siblings who are still being breastfed or receive better care. In the most vulnerable households, boys are worse off than girls. At the same time, male-headed households tend to have healthier children, while family size is negatively associated with child MUAC. To reduce the effects of drought on child malnutrition, the targeting of food aid beneficiaries is crucial, and the use of remote sensing data could improve the effectiveness of these interventions. In chapter four we sought to understand the levels of school enrolment and gender differences in schooling given the challenges of accessibility to schools in the pastoral areas. First, we established levels of school enrolment by gender. Secondly, we estimated the effect of herd migration on school attendance and thirdly we gathered the community perceptions about challenges that school going children face and how they can be addressed. We used both household panel data for children aged between 6 and 15 years and community data obtained from some focus group discussions. Results showed that the effect of herd migration on school attendance is significant and negative: once other factors are controlled for, the predicted probability of child failure to attend school is 26% for households that migrate their livestock. On the other hand, attendance is positively impacted by the educational level of both the household head and his spouse. The analysis of survey data indicates that over the five years studied, school enrollment increased for both boys and girls, averaging 63.6% and 69.0%, respectively, in 2013. During the same period, the school dropout rate was quite low (less than 10%) although still higher among boys than among girls. The mean schooling efficiency (relative grade attained) was 0.67, which implies inefficiency in grade progression. Girls were better off than boys in terms of both grade attainment and staying in school, while children from more educated families showed a higher schooling efficiency than those from less educated families. At the same time, boys are less likely to attend school than girls, probably, the FGD participants confirmed, because boys engage in more economically valued activities like herding, which raises the opportunity costs of their absence for school. Girls, in contrast, engaged mostly in nonmonetizable household duties. Nevertheless, as key barriers to school attendance, the participants identified too few schools, nomadism and communal conflicts.