A Little bit random
Hi all, so this week I was reading the veterinary news again. Yet again avian flu is in the papers again. this week there have been confirmed cases in Yorkshire and at a swannery in Dorset. This swannery just happens to been near my house. So I need to work out how to protect my chickens.
The BVA and the BVPA have given us some advise about how to protect our birds. Now for me this is difficult as I don't have a chicken house big enough to keep all of them for a long period of time, and the only outhouse I have is the garage and that it full to the brim with tools and bikes. So I need to think of something else, what I'm thinking of is putting a net across the top of their pen. The reason I'm telling you this is because if you have any birds, you are probably attached to them and they produce eggs for your family. So just as a warning avian flu has been confirmed across the country, so make sure you try to stop any contact between your chickens and wild birds. As I have said before for any further information look up avian flu on the BVA website, they have a factfile about how to protect your birds, they have formally lengthened the prevention zones to the 28th February, so please look after your birds and if one dies report it to your local vet or check the BVA website for the hotline on it.
Also this week in biology I have been looking at intensive rearing, now this brings up a big debate about how animals should be kept and their welfare, now I think that this is very important and is a topic that should be discussed so I'm going to go into it making a few points not writing a whole essay on it but just put across my opinion and some points that go against my opinion but I can see the reasoning behind them. I am also only going to talk about livestock.
So the thinking behind intensive rearing is to produce the maximum amount of produce possible to do this farmers do a few different things. In order to reduce energy lost in respiration animals are kept in pens the decrease their movement, quite often now most cows are kept indoors as this way the farmers can control the temperature so that it is perfect for the livestock and they don't have to waste energy trying to keep warm or cool down. The food is also highly controlled the animals are fed specific amounts of food little and often.
Now I feel that in cases like this as long as the animals aren't distressed and they are healthy there is nothing against it. However I understand that you can get cases where the animals aren't treated right and their welfare is being overlooked. Now welfare is paramount so I think that farms the intensively rear their livestock should be reviewed and check on by a vet or a welfare officer. This is important as many things can go wrong if this method isn't carried out correctly.
Some people believe that this method of rearing is inhumane, unethical and can harm the animals. Well yes I do agree, in the case of battery hens, they were reared very badly, put under stressful conditions and their welfare I believe was compromised which was wrong. Which is why that is no longer allowed. In the case for cows being held indoors most of the year, I understand why people believe that this is unnatural because it isn't how we commonly imagen cows, however the farms that I have been to where the cows are kept inside, the cows do seem content, well cared for and healthy, which is all the things that are important. I feel that this is a good compromise, the cows being kept indoors can increase milk yield which is how farmers are now having to react in order to cater for our demand. So if we don't want our cows to be kept inside all of the time then we need to lower our demand.
So to finish off, I feel that as long as the animal that's being intensively reared hasn't had its welfare compromised and it is healthy and content then it is fair to employ this method of rearing. However I do think it should be monitored carefully.
Thank you for reading people I hope this maybe made you think and please do be careful with your birds with this avian flu going around.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/jun/07/super-farms-environment-livestock-climate
The BVA and the BVPA have given us some advise about how to protect our birds. Now for me this is difficult as I don't have a chicken house big enough to keep all of them for a long period of time, and the only outhouse I have is the garage and that it full to the brim with tools and bikes. So I need to think of something else, what I'm thinking of is putting a net across the top of their pen. The reason I'm telling you this is because if you have any birds, you are probably attached to them and they produce eggs for your family. So just as a warning avian flu has been confirmed across the country, so make sure you try to stop any contact between your chickens and wild birds. As I have said before for any further information look up avian flu on the BVA website, they have a factfile about how to protect your birds, they have formally lengthened the prevention zones to the 28th February, so please look after your birds and if one dies report it to your local vet or check the BVA website for the hotline on it.
Also this week in biology I have been looking at intensive rearing, now this brings up a big debate about how animals should be kept and their welfare, now I think that this is very important and is a topic that should be discussed so I'm going to go into it making a few points not writing a whole essay on it but just put across my opinion and some points that go against my opinion but I can see the reasoning behind them. I am also only going to talk about livestock.
So the thinking behind intensive rearing is to produce the maximum amount of produce possible to do this farmers do a few different things. In order to reduce energy lost in respiration animals are kept in pens the decrease their movement, quite often now most cows are kept indoors as this way the farmers can control the temperature so that it is perfect for the livestock and they don't have to waste energy trying to keep warm or cool down. The food is also highly controlled the animals are fed specific amounts of food little and often.
Now I feel that in cases like this as long as the animals aren't distressed and they are healthy there is nothing against it. However I understand that you can get cases where the animals aren't treated right and their welfare is being overlooked. Now welfare is paramount so I think that farms the intensively rear their livestock should be reviewed and check on by a vet or a welfare officer. This is important as many things can go wrong if this method isn't carried out correctly.
Some people believe that this method of rearing is inhumane, unethical and can harm the animals. Well yes I do agree, in the case of battery hens, they were reared very badly, put under stressful conditions and their welfare I believe was compromised which was wrong. Which is why that is no longer allowed. In the case for cows being held indoors most of the year, I understand why people believe that this is unnatural because it isn't how we commonly imagen cows, however the farms that I have been to where the cows are kept inside, the cows do seem content, well cared for and healthy, which is all the things that are important. I feel that this is a good compromise, the cows being kept indoors can increase milk yield which is how farmers are now having to react in order to cater for our demand. So if we don't want our cows to be kept inside all of the time then we need to lower our demand.
So to finish off, I feel that as long as the animal that's being intensively reared hasn't had its welfare compromised and it is healthy and content then it is fair to employ this method of rearing. However I do think it should be monitored carefully.
Thank you for reading people I hope this maybe made you think and please do be careful with your birds with this avian flu going around.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2012/jun/07/super-farms-environment-livestock-climate
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