Through the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme the RSPCA works closely with farmers committed to producing higher welfare cage-free eggs. Since releasing our first animal welfare standards for layer hens in 1996, more than 1.4 million hens have benefitted from better conditions on farm. Hens on RSPCA Approved farms have nests,…
Mastitis is an infection that causes inflammation of a cow’s udder. It is caused by bacteria or by injury, and the dairy industry believes it affects around 5-10% of dairy cows in the typical Australian dairy herd during their lactation. Mastitis is one of the most important health and welfare…
Calving induction involves administering a drug to dairy cows to stimulate calving before full term. Some dairy farmers do this to coordinate calving for the herd to ‘come into milk’ over a set period of time. The RSPCA is opposed to the use of induced calving as a management practice…
General information for livestock The University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Library has a good database of plants toxic to animals (including photos and detailed description of the effects of the plants on animals): https://guides.library.illinois.edu/plantstoxictoanimals Cornell University has a poisonous plants information database, which is arranged by type of animal, which…
Turkeys, along with chickens and ducks, are one of the more common species of poultry farmed for meat. Domestic turkeys were originally bred from wild turkey stock native to North America. Over the past 50 years, breeding companies have been selecting for production traits such as fast growth, large breast…
There is increasing public concern regarding the welfare of horses and cattle used in rodeos due to the potential risks of injury and distress. The laws relating to rodeos vary widely between states and territories and do not protect animals used in rodeos from harm. Rodeos involve several different events…
The commercial production of fetal bovine serum starts with the collection of blood from fetal calves at licensed abattoirs. Because the blood of unborn calves has only been exposed to their mother’s blood coming to them across the placenta (which filters out most bacteria and viruses), fetal blood is free…
The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme is Australia’s leading independent certification scheme focused on animal welfare. The RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme’s vision is a future of higher welfare farming and its mission to improve the quality of life of farmed animals. We work closely with farmers to make a positive impact…
The practice of boiling a fertilised duck embryo in the egg shell and then eating it from the shell has the potential to result in pain and suffering for the unhatched bird. The following information on the capacity of an egg embryo to feel pain relates to research (Mellor &…
In the egg industry, the sex of day-old chicks is determined at the hatchery. Sexing chicks (determining whether they are a hen or a rooster) requires considerable skill and is done at this very early stage to determine their fate. If strong and healthy, the female chicks are transferred to…