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212-404 Animal Welfare | |
Credit Points | 16 |
Coordinator | Professor P Hemsworth |
Semester | 1 |
Contact | 24 hours of lectures and 36 hours of project work |
Subject Description | On completion of the course, students should have sound and broad understanding of the systems regulating body function and the behavioural and physiological responses utilised by animals in responding to environmental change. From this theoretical base, students should develop an appreciation of the scientific approaches available to assess animal welfare. Furthermore, students will understand the concepts of animal welfare and be aware of the main welfare issues confronting animals in modern livestock production systems. Specific topics covered include: the current debate about animal usage and animal welfare; systems regulating the body (homeostasis, motivation and control systems, and development of regulatory systems); limits to adaptation (stimulation, tolerance and coping, variation in adaptation); stress and welfare (Selye's concept of stress and refinements to the concept, coping and fitness, definition of welfare and its assessment); assessing welfare using short- and long-term biological responses; assessing welfare using preference testing; assessing welfare by studying cognitive skills; ethical problems concerning welfare; welfare issues in agriculture and the general community; codes of practice for the welfare of livestock; welfare solutions. |
Assessment | A 3-hour end-of-semester written exam and two written project reports (each 2500 words) as specified at commencement of subject. |
Prescribed Texts |
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Search : Index : Institute of Land and Food Resources : Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Prev 212-431 Extensive Animal Production
Next 212-433 Resource Management and Agricultural Systems Analysis
Status: Official 1998 Last Modified: Tuesday October 21 17:11 SGML to HTML Conversion: Information Technology Services Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email Enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au