DCAW Projects

Each year, DCAW supports and initiates research projects on animal welfare issues. The DCAW Steering Group decides on project themes based on proposals made by the Project Group. A total of 28 projects have been initiated in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Project themes in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 have included:

• Mapping of animal welfare: animal welfare status and
  development of index
• Improving animal welfare control
• Improving animal welfare in Denmark
• Animal welfare economics
• Methods for measuring animal welfare:
  diseases, mortality and animal welfare
• Communicating animal welfare
• Handling of sick and injured animals
• Animal welfare and transport
• Animal welfare in the poultry production
• Companion animal welfare
• Selective breeding of dogs and cats
• Animal welfare education and training
• Dairy cattle welfare

You can find lists of the projects under each year:

A list of projects initiated by DCAW in 2014:

- Lameness dynamics in Danish dairy farms
- How is animal welfare communicated on Danish agricultural colleges?
- Using clinical data from veterinary advisory service contracts to monitor animal welfare – advantages and possible pitfalls?
- Developing a concept for e-learning material on pig welfare on farms
- Selective breeding for improved welfare in pedigree dogs

​A list of projects initiated by DCAW in 2013:

- Sick-leave among Danish riding school horses
- Do 80 mio. Danish broilers have welfare problems?
- Keeping horses outdoor during winter – what are important factors for the design of shelters?
- Use of sick pens and quantification of the welfare needs of lame dairy cattle

A list of projects initiated by DCAW in 2012:

- A pain score scale for pain in dairy cattle
- The dilemma between animal welfare and disease control in cattle herds
- Has the Yellow Card System reduced the welfare in Danish pig herds?
- Has the cow recovered? – Behaviour and welfare in dairy cows recovering from mastitis
- Reliability and validity of bite marks as welfare indicator in mink
- Transport fitness: are pigs with hernias and tail bites fit for transport?

A list of projects initiated by DCAW in 2011:

- Interrelations of economy and animal welfare at herd/flock level
- Validation, quality assurance and future-proofing of welfare recordings in pig herds
- Welfare economic consequences of lameness and food pad dermatitis in Danish broilers
- Welfare and legal implications of transport of cows to slaughter
- Lameness and leg disorders in outdoor sows
- A risk-based identification of pig herds with welfare problems according to welfare inspections conducted by the authorities

Databases – Potentials for the evaluation of animal welfare

- Identification of sow herds with welfare problems on the basis of existing central databases and efficiency control data
- Use of routine hoof trimming data to predict the overall animal welfare level in dairy herds
- Surface temperature as a welfare indicator in pigs
- Foot pad dermatitis in broilers: an example of strategies for improved animal welfare
- Identifying animal welfare problems related to the stunning and killing of broilers
- Self-policing of animal welfare