Bred to suffer?

Jacky Turner, author of ‘Animal Breeding, Welfare and Society’ explains how specialised breeding is threatening farm animal welfare.

In a previous issue of Farm Animal Voice, we wrote about Daisy, a typical modern dairy cow, whose body had been specialised for a high yield of milk. Daisy gave birth to three calves, yielded thousands of litres of milk and experienced mastitis and painful lameness. She was discarded from the dairy herd and sent to slaughter before she was just five years old.

Average yields per dairy cow approximately doubled between 1970 and 2007 in Denmark, the US and the UK. About half of this increase was due to genetic selection.

Daisy’s story illustrated Compassion in World Farming’s concern about farm animal breeding: that excessive specialisation of farm animals into breeds suitable for one particular function is now one of the more insidious threats to farm animal health and welfare.

An intensively produced meat chicken now grows to a typical slaughter weight in almost half the number of days that it took in 1976.

Bristol University scientists reported in 2008 that only 2% of fast growing meat chickens had completely normal walking ability at 40 days old, and nearly 28% were quite severely lame (and likely in pain).

Genetic selection not only affects dairy cows, but also pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, beef cattle and sheep; all have been selected so that each animal is capable of working harder and producing more – whether this means more milk, faster growth, more muscle, more eggs or more offspring. And to be high-yielding, these specialised animals also need specialised feeding – such as the cereal-based feeds and soya that now take up so much of the world’s agricultural resources of land and water.

Animal breeding experts have known for some time that when animals’ bodies are over-specialised for one function (such as milk production or muscle growth), too much of their feed and physiological resources are devoted to that function. Insufficient resources may be directed to maintain other organs and functions such as heart, skeleton, immune system and fertility, which makes it more difficult for farmers to keep these animals healthy.

When animals are genetically capable of what is called ‘high performance’, there is a temptation to work them too hard. In spite of the huge advances in modern veterinary medicine, female animals used for breeding today often have shorter lives than their ancestors did in the past.

Across the industrialised world, modern dairy cows typically only survive for between 2½ and 3½ lactations – often fewer. Modern ‘highly-prolific’ sows kept in intensive conditions can produce 30 weaned piglets each per year. But many commercial sows do not have more than two years of productive breeding life before they are culled because of lameness or reproductive failure. Degenerative arthritis, which causes joint swelling and pain, has been found in 88% of culled sows in Denmark. In some sheep breeds, selection for larger and meatier lambs means that the majority of ewes can no longer give birth without human assistance.

Some scientists argue that better genetic selection will solve the health problems excessive selection has created, by breeding animals with genes associated with traits such as strong legs, disease resistance, ‘maternal ability’ and long, productive lifetimes. Obviously we should welcome any breeding strategies that reduce animal suffering. But should genetic selection be used to enable animals just to survive better in factory farms?

Compassion in World Farming campaigns for a more sustainable path – for both animals and farmers. We should move away from farming methods that push animals to the limit of their productive capacities in the pursuit of lower costs and instead use robust animals that can enjoy a long and healthy life, in extensive or free-range conditions.