Advances in Sheep Welfare, Second Edition provides a detailed reference on advancements in sheep welfare. The book contains the most current knowledge on breeding practices, animal affective states, management strategies, farming and production practices, and the role of society and consumers in shaping the welfare debate. In addition to updating all chapters from the previous edition, completely new chapters are included on behavioral assessments of sheep welfare, the impact of climate change, and drivers of change for sheep producers. Stakeholders across the wool, dairy, and sheep meat supply chains will also benefit from this resource.
The book brings together a team of international experts to create the definitive resource on sheep welfare. It will serve as a key reference for researchers, instructors, and students at the post-graduate level who are interested in animal agriculture, especially those who study sheep and issues of animal welfare.
Part One: Introduction to sheep welfare
1. Understanding the natural behaviour of sheep
2. Overview of sheep production systems
3. Consumer and societal expectations for sheep products (wool, meat and
dairy)
Part Two: New advances in sheep welfare assessment
4. Physiological markers of welfare state
5. Novel behavioural measures of sheep welfare
Part Three: Current and future solutions to welfare challenges
6. Genetic solutions
7. Reproductive management (including impacts of prenatal stress on offspring
development)
8. Nutritional management
9. Predation control
10. Managing disease risks
11. Routine management procedures
12. Transport and pre-slaughter management
13. Advanced livestock management solutions (application)
14. Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for sheep production
systems: Implications for heat stress and feedbase
15. Drivers to practice change on-farm
Part Four: Sheep welfare beyond 2030
16. Sheep welfare - beyond 2030
Drewe Ferguson leads the Livestock Systems Program within CSIRO Agriculture and Food. He is recognized for his research in advancing livestock welfare through improvements in livestock resilience and management and husbandry practices. Rebecca Doyle studies animal welfare from fundamental cognition to applied animal welfare research. She is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Director of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Caroline Lee leads the animal behavior and welfare team at CSIRO, Australia. Her research interests include developing novel methods to assess affective states, assessing cognition and learning and improving welfare assessment of farm animals. Andrew Fisher is Chair of Cattle and Sheep Production Medicine and Director of the Animal Welfare Science Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has significant experience in animal welfare research, with a particular focus on production animal management, transport and pain management. He is also actively involved in the translation of animal welfare research into public and organizational policy.
