How to Improve the Welfare of Your Livestock

 

Throughout the last several decades, the livestock and agricultural industries have seen their fair share of changes and development. With technological advancements and scientific breakthroughs in research, farmers and livestock producers have more information at their disposal than ever before. That being said, sifting through such information to find the right practices that you should be implementing with your own livestock can be a challenge.

 

Essentially, every farmer and producer of livestock should be making the best decisions for their personal situation. Those decisions should ultimately be based on how improvements in the welfare of livestock can be made. With healthier, happier livestock, you can hope to bring about higher production levels and better overall products.

 

If you are currently looking for ways to improve your livestock's welfare, here are a few things that you should consider doing.

 

Evaluate Your Feed

 

The health and welfare of your livestock will be heavily affected by the type of feed you opt for. While it had been common practice to go with feed options that contain synthetic elements in the past, more modern insights have demonstrated that such synthetic products can have negative long-term effects on the health and wellbeing of livestock.

 

With that in mind, if it has been a while since you have evaluated the feed that you supply to your livestock, now is the time to do so. By making a switch from harmful synthetic feed to feed that is made from purely natural ingredients and components, you can greatly improve the welfare of your livestock.

 

Another benefit to going this route involves the costs associated with the feed that you provide your livestock. While synthetic products have long been touted as the more cost-effective option for livestock producers, there are now some excellent options on the market that are just as cost-effective as they are healthy for your livestock.

 

Adopt More Humane Methods

 

There is a great deal of scientific research to back up the claim that the more humanely livestock is treated, the better your resulting products will be in the end. With this in mind, you could stand to benefit a great deal from consulting with a livestock welfare expert to uncover new ways in which you can promote the humane care of your livestock.

 

By implementing certain ethical farming practices, you can vastly improve the welfare of your animals. For instance, reducing the amount of time that your livestock is in close confinement and providing conditions that are more conducive to your animals behaving more naturally can go a long way to improving their overall wellbeing. 

 

It is also important to note that such changes while costing a bit upfront, can end up reducing the costs of managing and maintaining your livestock in the long run. With happier livestock and reduced costs, you can find yourself in a much better position in the future. Hopefully these tips have helped to give you some ideas on improving the welfare of your livestock.