Poultry and Pig Low-input and Organic production systems' Welfare
3 – Assessment tools
The aim of work package 3 was to build and test tools for assessing animal welfare and sustainability of organic and low input outdoor production systems for broiler chickens, laying hens and pigs. The first step was to develop two smartphone apps with which farmers could assess the welfare of their own poultry and pigs. These apps contained automated feedback on the results of the welfare assessments and benchmarking information. Secondly, the potential of those apps to help improve animal welfare on farms was tested in a longitudinal study in which broiler chicken and fattening pig farmers used the app regularly during a two-year period. In addition, a global framework was designed in this work package which can be used to assess different elements of the One Welfare approach (animal welfare, economic, social and environmental aspects) on-farm. This framework could be used to assess how possible welfare improving strategies that were being tested in other work packages of the project influenced both human and animal welfare.