Suchergebnisse

There is an increasing interest in donkey farming in Italy, because of the use of donkey milk to feed children affected by Cow's Milk Protein Allergy. Limited information is available about the management characteristics of dairy donkeys' facilities, as well as concerning the assessment of the animal welfare. Considering the lack of information, recommendations and a welfare specific legislation on the farming of this species, the aim of this study was to highlight possible critical aspects of this farm system and to assess animal welfare. During each on-farm visit, a check list was fulfilled according to a designed specific score for: good housing and management (bedding quality, regular health checks, foot care, control of insects and rodents, weaning process, milking procedures), good nutritional status (BCS and water provisions), good health (integument cleanliness, injuries, fecal quality, lameness, swollen joints, signs of teeth abnormalities, udder and teat hygiene), behavior (stereotypies). Descriptive statistic of the observed parameters was calculate. A total of 6 dairy donkey farms located in north-western Italy were visited during2013 and 2014. The number of donkeys per facility ranged from 40 to 60; of a total of 206 females, 62 were lactating and 144 were dry jennies, aged between 36 and 48 months. A total of 6 stallions and 67 foals lived on the farms. The animals were kept on pasture with shelters during the day and stabled in pen during the night. They were grouped according to their production, with the exception of one farm where they remained all together on pasture. The visited farms were family run, only two farms had employees. The number of donkeys cared for by a single person varied from 5 to 103 animals. As far as good housing is concerned, straw bedding quality (depth and hygiene) was adequate in all farms. The bedding was changed with a frequency up to 4 times per month. The cleaning of the troughs and of the farm in general (walls and floors) was given a medium score. Regular health checks were provided. Antiparasitic treatments were administered in all farms and measures to control insects and rodents adopted. For the milking procedures, foals were separated from their mothers four (N=1) six (N=3) or 10 hours (N=2) before milking. When separated, they could see or hear the mother. No farms used artificial milk; therefore, the foals received colostrum from and were nursed by their mother during 6- 12 months. Additional feed was introduced between 0 and 12 months. The milking parlour was present in 4 farms, and all the farmers adopted a method of cleaning and disinfection of the teats. The average milk production was 1 litre for 1 daily milking. Forty per cent of the donkeys showed a good body condition score (BCS = 3), a consequence of appropriate nutrition. In 4 farms the animals were provided with hay ad libitum, and complementary feedstuffs; only one farmer provided minerals and vitamins; all the animals showed no changes in colour or consistency of the manure. Concerning good health indicators, all donkeys were judged clean, more than 90% had no swollen joints, lameness, signs of teeth abnormalities. No animal showed any stereotypies. In conclusion, the dairy donkeys farms surveyed in North-Western Italy showed a good level of animal well-being.

Data are available in the scientific literature concerning the quality and usefulness of donkey milk for human consumption. However, there is a lack of studies related to the understanding of the welfare of dairy donkeys. The only attempt, at a European Union level, to assess the welfare of donkeys is that of the Animal Welfare Indicator&rsquo ; s (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, where the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria have been assessed, but only through the evaluation of the body condition score. However, several other indicators that take into account the importance of good feeding welfare principles should be considered for the correct management of dairy donkeys. Therefore, it is hoped that this review of the available scientific literature will be useful to help establish a set of appropriate welfare requirements and indicators for the management of dairy donkeys. The review is aimed at identifying and discussing other requirements and indicators, such as nutritional requirements, farm management requirements and animal-based indicators, which may be important for the correct assessment of the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria and to establish best practices for the feeding of dairy donkeys.

A survey has been conducted on conventional and organic poultry farms located in northern Italy in order to investigate the occurrence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in feeds and sera in 2006. Ten poultry farms were monitored by taking 20 samples of feed and 94 samples of blood. OTA was assessed through immunoaffinity column purification and HPLC analysis. For in-house validation, recovery experiments, carried out on the spiked samples in the range of 1.0-10.0 μg OTA kg-1 and 0.3-3.0 ng OTA ml-1 for the feed and serum samples, respectively, led to overall recovery averages of 80.6% (RDS=7.3%, n=9) and 83.3% (RDS=3.1%, n=9), respectively. All the feed samples were contaminated by OTA with values ranging from 0.04 to 6.50 μg kg-1. Fiftythree percent of the sera samples were positive, with values ranging from 0.003- 0.165 ng ml-1. None of the feed samples was above the limits set by the European Union on OTA contamination in poultry feeds. No statistically significant differences in OTA contamination of feed or sera were observed either between the organic vs conventional group or between the laying hens vs broiler group.

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The increase in dairy donkey farms in Europe, as a consequence of the increasing scientific interest in donkey milk for paediatric nutrition, has led to the need for a better understanding of the welfare of dairy donkeys. Taking into account the Animal Welfare Indicator's (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, the aim of this review has been to obtain insight into good feeding welfare principles, in order to identify and discuss the nutritional requirements, the farm management requirements and the animal-based indicators that may be used to achieve an overall assessment of the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria of dairy donkeys. ABSTRACT: Data are available in the scientific literature concerning the quality and usefulness of donkey milk for human consumption. However, there is a lack of studies related to the understanding of the welfare of dairy donkeys. The only attempt, at a European Union level, to assess the welfare of donkeys is that of the Animal Welfare Indicator's (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, where the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria have been assessed, but only through the evaluation of the body condition score. However, several other indicators that take into account the importance of good feeding welfare principles should be considered for the correct management of dairy donkeys. Therefore, it is hoped that this review of the available scientific literature will be useful to help establish a set of appropriate welfare requirements and indicators for the management of dairy donkeys. The review is aimed at identifying and discussing other requirements and indicators, such as nutritional requirements, farm management requirements and animal-based indicators, which may be important for the correct assessment of the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria and to establish best practices for the feeding of dairy donkeys.

Data are available in the scientific literature concerning the quality and usefulness of donkey milk for human consumption. However, there is a lack of studies related to the understanding of the welfare of dairy donkeys. The only attempt, at a European Union level, to assess the welfare of donkeys is that of the Animal Welfare Indicator's (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, where the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria have been assessed, but only through the evaluation of the body condition score. However, several other indicators that take into account the importance of good feeding welfare principles should be considered for the correct management of dairy donkeys. Therefore, it is hoped that this review of the available scientific literature will be useful to help establish a set of appropriate welfare requirements and indicators for the management of dairy donkeys. The review is aimed at identifying and discussing other requirements and indicators, such as nutritional requirements, farm management requirements and animal-based indicators, which may be important for the correct assessment of the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria and to establish best practices for the feeding of dairy donkeys.

Data are available in the scientific literature concerning the quality and usefulness of donkey milk for human consumption. However, there is a lack of studies related to the understanding of the welfare of dairy donkeys. The only attempt, at a European Union level, to assess the welfare of donkeys is that of the Animal Welfare Indicator's (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for donkeys, where the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria have been assessed, but only through the evaluation of the body condition score. However, several other indicators that take into account the importance of good feeding welfare principles should be considered for the correct management of dairy donkeys. Therefore, it is hoped that this review of the available scientific literature will be useful to help establish a set of appropriate welfare requirements and indicators for the management of dairy donkeys. The review is aimed at identifying and discussing other requirements and indicators, such as nutritional requirements, farm management requirements and animal-based indicators, which may be important for the correct assessment of the appropriate nutrition welfare criteria and to establish best practices for the feeding of dairy donkeys.