Optimal Flow-A Pilot Study Balancing Sheep Movement and Welfare in Abattoirs.

ABSTRACT: Abattoirs are faced with the challenge of moving livestock efficiently through the plant, while also engaging in handling practices that assure good animal welfare. Achieving optimal outcomes for both of these goals can bring them into conflict. An additional source of conflict can arise from the design of the abattoir. These problems are compounded by the dearth of research available to inform how livestock should be handled to achieve all of these goals. We applied the concept of 'Optimal Flow' to describe conditions under which rate of movement is maximised while overt signs of distress in sheep are minimised. Effectively, this represents the point at which trade-offs between speed and welfare converge. The current pilot study examined the behavioural interactions between humans (n</

SUBMITTER: Starling MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7912567 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature