Animal Welfare Indicators at the SlaughterHouse

Food, Bioeconomy & Natural ResourcesHORIZON-RIAID: 101060818
EC Contribution
€79,996
Consortium Size
30 orgs
Start Year
2022
Summary

The objective of aWISH is to develop and offer a cost-efficient solution to evaluate and improve the welfare of meat-producing livestock at a large scale, across Europe. This approach will be developed and evaluated in close collaboration with all actors involved, from primary producers up to policy makers and citizens. At the heart of the aWISH solution is the automated monitoring at the slaughterhouse of complementary animal-based indicators for monitoring welfare on-farm, during (un)loading, transport and slaughter. Besides that, existing or routinely collected data (slaughterhouse data, antibiotics usage, farm data, etc.) and needed technologies on-farm or on-transport to complement the measurements at slaughter will be exploited. Piloting and development activities will be done in 6 broiler chicken and fattening pig production chains across Europe (FR, PL, ES, NL, AT, RS), using a lean multi-actor approach, in order to test and validate the project results. Novel sensor technologies and AI algorithms will be developed, and a feedback tool and interface will allow each actor in the chain to get direct feedback of each batch, visualize trends and benchmark animal welfare outcomes. An Animal Welfare Indicator Catalogue will disseminate all validated indicators and standardized data collection methods. From the pilot data, animal welfare initiatives taken at operator, chain, regional or national level will be assessed alongside their environmental and socio-economic impact at operator and sector level. Next to that, 9 Best Practice Guides will be developed to improve key welfare issues in pigs and broilers, and to help external actors deploy the aWISH technologies and feedback tool. How the feedback loop guides and motivates each party to take actions to improve animal welfare will be tested in a longitudinal study, and the needs, perceptions and barriers of all actors from farm to fork incl. the consumer will be researched to maximize impact of the aWISH results.

Consortium (30)

🇧🇪 EIGEN VERMOGEN VAN HET INSTITUUT VOOR LANDBOUW- EN VISSERIJONDERZOEKBE
coordinator
🇭🇺 AGHITECH KFTHU
partner
🇷🇸 BIOSENSE INSTITUTE - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN BIOSYSTEMSRS
partner
🇪🇸 BY-NUNASOLUTIONS SLES
partner
🇷🇸 CARNEX DOO INDUSTRIJA MESA VRBASRS
partner
🇩🇪 CLK GMBHDE
partner
🇵🇹 CONSULAI, CONSULTORIA AGRO INDUSTRIATRIAL LDAPT
partner
🇫🇷 DUCFR
partner
🇧🇪 EUROGROUP FOR ANIMALS ASBLBE
partner
🇩🇪 FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUR NUTZTIERBIOLOGIEDE
partner
🇬🇷 GIOUMPITEK MELETI SCHEDIASMOS YLOPOIISI KAI POLISI ERGON PLIROFORIKIS ETAIREIA PERIORISMENIS EFTHYNISGR
partner
🇦🇹 HIGELSBERGER GMBHAT
partner
🇩🇰 INNOTECH VISIONDK
partner
🇪🇸 INNOVACC CLÚSTER CATALÀ DE LA CARN I LA PROTEÏNA ALTERNATIVAES
partner
🇫🇷 INSTITUT TECHNIQUE DE L'AVICULTURE,DE LA CUNICULTURE ET DE LA PISCICULTURE-ITAVIFR
partner
🇵🇱 INSTYTUT GENETYKI I BIOTECHNOLOGII ZWIERZAT POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUKPL
partner
🇩🇪 JOHANN HEINRICH VON THUENEN-INSTITUT, BUNDESFORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUER LAENDLICHE RAEUME, WALD UND FISCHEREIDE
partner
KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
partner
🇳🇱 PLUKON FOOD GROUP BVNL
partner
🇵🇱 PLUKON SIERADZ SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIAPL
partner
🇳🇱 PLUKON WEZEP BVNL
partner
🇦🇹 RUDOLF GROSSFURTNER GMBHAT
partner
🇪🇸 SELECCION BATALLE SAES
partner
🇩🇪 STIFTUNG TIERAERZTLICHE HOCHSCHULE HANNOVERDE
partner
🇪🇸 UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONAES
partner
🇳🇱 UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHTNL
partner
🇦🇹 VETERINAERMEDIZINISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIENAT
partner
🇳🇱 VION FOOD NEDERLAND BVNL
partner
🇫🇷 WEL2BEFR
partner
🇧🇪 WHITE RESEARCH SRLBE
partner

Project Results (40)

Source: CORDIS, the EU research results database.

Publications (27)
"Developing the ""Lesion-Detect"" system that can identify and score gross lung lesions automatically during the slaughtering process"
Book of abstracts of 15th International Conference of Biosystems Engineering· 2025DOI
Banhazi, T., Dunn, M., Banhazi, A., Reixach, J., Maselyne, J., & De Visscher, A.
"EU-Projekt ""aWISH"": Verbesserung des Tierwohls von Schweinen und Broilern durch automatisierte Erfassung von Tierschutzindikatoren am Schlachthof"
30. Internationale DVG-Fachtagung zum Thema Tierschutz· 2025DOI
Jachens, M., Kemper, N., Fels, M.
A framework for a comprehensive animal welfare label: scientific, logistic, and ethical challenges
Animal Frontiers· 2025DOI
Frank A M Tuyttens; Alistair B Lawrence; Siobhan Mullan
Agronomy Research
Agronomy Research· 2025DOI
Banhazi, T.; Dunn, M.; Banhazi, A.; Reixach, J.; Ramon-Perez, A.; Llonch, P.; Maselyne, J.
Automated evaluation of pig consciousness in the slaughterhouse: sensor development
HSA Conference 2025 Scientific Programme - Animal Welfare Beyond the Farm Gate: Latest developments in humane slaughter and transport of animals· 2025DOI
Ramon-Perez, A., Gol, S., Reixach, J., Sanchez, J., Manteca, X., & Llonch, P.
Barn climate advice and pig tear staining: preliminary insights into an emerging welfare indicator
Proceedings of the 58th congress of the ISAE· 2025DOI
van Langeveld, Kenny; van Staaveren, Nienke; Van Noten, Noémie; Rodenburg, Bas; Tuyttens, Frank
Catálogo de indicadores basados en sensores para medir el bienestar animal en matadero de porcino
Book of Abstracts of XXI Jornadas sobre Producción Animal (AIDA - ITEA)· 2025DOI
Ramon-Perez, A., Gol, S., Arbat, J., Reixach, J., & Llonch, P.
Development of an automated tool for monitoring tail length and lesions in pig slaughterhouses
Proceedings of the 58th Congress of the ISAE· 2025DOI
Ramon-Perez, A., Gol, S., Arbat, J., Reixach, J., & Llonch, P.
Experts’ vs. farmers’ opinion on “Best Practices” to improve animal welfare in pig farming
Book of Abstracts of the 76th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science· 2025DOI
Jachens, M., Kemper, N., & Fels, M.
Incorporating the pre-slaughter phase into chicken welfare monitoring and labeling schemes
Book of Abstracts of the 76th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science· 2025DOI
Tuyttens, F., Delanglez, F., van Langeveld, K., Watteyn, A., Van Noten, N., De Visscher, A., & Maselyne, J.
Technologies for automatic assessment of pig welfare using animal-based indicators in the slaughterhouse: a review
Biosystems Engineering· 2025DOI
Angela Ramon-Perez, Irene Camerlink, Nienke van Staaveren, Kristina Maschat, Kenny van Langeveld, Thomas Banhazi, Michaela Fels, Maite Jachens, Jarissa Maselyne, Björn Forkman, Pol Llonch
A REVIEW OF INDICATORS AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES TO ASSESS PIG WELFARE AT THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE
"Book of abstracts of 4th FSVO/UFAW Symposium ""Humanely ending the life of animals"""· 2024DOI
ANGELA RAMON-PEREZ , Björn Forkman, Xavier Manteca and Pol Llonch
Area-specific vocalisation and activity monitoring in pigs
PRECISION LIVESTOCK FARMING. EUROPEAN CONFERENCE. 11TH 2024.· 2024
Westendorff, N., Puppe, B., Moscovice, L. R., Eusemann, B., & Manteuffel, C.
Automated monitoring of pig and chicken welfare at the slaughterhouse - tracing back to farm, transport and slaughter
Book of Abstracts of the 75th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science :· 2024DOI
Tuyttens, F., Maselyne, J., & aWISH consortium.
Development of the Lesion-Detect System: Can Gross Lung Lesions Automatically Identified in Slaughterhouses?
In the proceedings of the ISAH & SEAOHUN International Conference· 2024DOI
Banhazi, T., Dunn, M., Banhazi, A., Reixach, J., Ramon Perez, A., Llonch, P., & Maselyne, J.
Enviro-Detect Instrument Used to Measure Environmental Conditions within a Spanish Livestock Building
The 21st International Society for Animal Hygiene Conference· 2024DOI
Banhazi, T., Banhazi, A., Phillips, C., Reixach, J., Ramon Perez, A., Llonch, P., & Maselyne, J.
Guideline to validate sensor output of animal-based measurements
Book of Abstracts of the 75th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science· 2024DOI
Maselyne, J., Stygar, A., Pastell, M., Allueva Molina, Q., Ramon Perez, A., Llonch, P., & Ko, H.-L.
Scoring Tear Staining in Pigs: Similarity, Consistency, Accuracy, and Level of Experience.
Proceedings of the ISAE Benelux Conference 2024· 2024DOI
van Langeveld, Kenny; Van Noten, Noémie; Vanden Hole, Charlotte; Vandekerckhove, Zoë; Tuyttens, Frank
The aWISH project: Automated animal welfare monitoring for broilers and pigs at the slaughterhouse
Proceedings of Measuring Behavior 2024 - 13th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research· 2024DOI
Rodenburg, T. B., N. van Staaveren, M. F. Giersberg, N. van Noten, K. van Langeveld, R. Klont, B. de Ruiter, M. Bouwknegt, B. Peijnenburg, K. Mulder, F.A.M. Tuyttens
Validation guidelines of sensors used for the automatic assessment of animal welfare
Book of Abstracts of the 9th International Conference on the Welfare Assessment of Animals at Farm Level (WAFL)· 2024DOI
Llonch, P., Allueva Molina, Q., Stygar, A., Pastell, M., Maselyne, J., Ramon Perez, A., & Ko, H.-L.
Weight-Detect instrument predicted impending respiratory infection a week before clinical signs appeared
The 21st International Society for Animal Hygiene Conference· 2024DOI
Banhazi, T., Dunn, M., Banhazi, A., Ramon Perez, A., Llonch, P., & Maselyne, J.
A systematic review of indicators to assess pig welfare and the sensor technologies to monitor them
II Jornadas científicas redCIBA : el comportamiento natural como factor clave para el bienestar animal· 2023
Ramón Pérez, Ángela; Forkman, Björn; Manteca, Xavier; Llonch, Pol
Dobrostan drobiu w Polsce – działania polskiej nauki w kierunku jego poprawy
Polskie DROBIARSTWO wrzesień 2023· 2023DOI
Siwek, Maria; Marchewka, Joanna
Introducing the aWISH project: animal welfare indicators at the slaughterhouse
Book of Abstracts of the 73rd Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science : Book of abstracts No. 28 (2022)· 2022DOI
Jarissa Maselyne, Tuna Coppens, Anneleen Watteyn, Anneleen De Visscher, Eline Kowalski, Marijke Aluwé, Frank Tuyttens
Introducing the aWISH project: Animal Welfare Indicators at the SlaughterHouse
Proceedings of the 55th Congress of the ISAE· 2022DOI
Jarissa Maselyne, Tuna Coppens, Anneleen Watteyn, Anneleen De Visscher, Eline Kowalski, Marijke Aluwé, Frank Tuyttens
Improving Broiler Transport Efficiency Using CFD: Heat Stress Analysis and Mitigation Measures
Book of Abstracts of the 76th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal ScienceDOI
Guyot Y,, Créach P., Galliot P., Roux A-L.
Proceedings of the 58th Congress of the ISAE
Proceedings of the 58th Congress of the ISAEDOI
Lambert, H., & aWISH Consortium
Deliverables (12)
Other Results (1)
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - aWISH (Animal Welfare Indicators at the SlaughterHouse)