Animal Health & Welfare
People worldwide consume a lot of animal protein, such as eggs, meat and dairy. It is important that the animals that produce this have a good life. Knowledge development about animal welfare and health contributes to this. Wageningen Livestock Research helps companies, organizations and governments with knowledge questions and solutions.
Healthy animals with positive emotions
An animal that is not healthy does not feel well. Conversely, an animal that feels comfortable, is more robust, healthier and less susceptible to diseases. Animal welfare means that animals can meet their natural needs as much as possible. With room for positive emotions, as experienced by the animal itself.
Our products and services
The animal welfare and health department of Wageningen Livestock Research offers a large number of products and services for a wide range of partners. Our customers and clients are diverse; from government to NGOs and the private sector.
Animal welfare throughout the entire chain
Animal welfare and health must be guaranteed throughout the entire chain: at the farm, during transport and during the slaughter process. Consumers want more and more information about the origin of products and the conditions under which animals are kept. The environment is also important: animal and human health is closely linked.
Animal welfare and health themes
Animal welfare and health are important. Of course first of all for the animals themselves. But livestock farmers and fish farmers also want their animals to have a healthy and good life. And consumers too find it important that the meat, dairy and eggs they buy are produced by healthy animals that have or had a good life.
Animal Welfare Publications
Wageningen Livestock Research regularly publishes public reports and scientific publications on animal welfare and health. Take a look at our publications below, for example on animal transport, animal diseases and animal welfare monitoring.
What we can do for you?
40 experts work with innovative methods
Around 40 veterinarians, animal scientists, behavioural experts and physiologists work in our animal welfare and health department. Among other things, we investigate various types of housing systems. In order to measure objectively, we use smart farming tools: sensors, real-time monitoring, and big data analyses. With these we work on dashboards with early-warning and decision-support systems. This way a farmer can quickly intervene to guarantee the welfare of the animals.
Multidisciplinary research
Because we connect knowledge from different domains, we can interpret animal welfare and health. In the future, a wide range of livestock farming systems will emerge with various (product) concepts for animal welfare and sustainability that consumers can choose from. With our knowledge and expertise we play an important role in this development.