Animal Welfare and Extensive Husbandry System

The course aims to train a professional figure able to make the best management choices in favour of animal welfare and environmental sustainability. First this course will enable students to understand the concept of animal welfare in different farming systems, whether intensive or extensive, and to analyse the critical points of welfare in the main farmed species (ruminants, pigs, poultry and equids).
Then the course aims to define different husbandry and feeding systems for extensive and semi-extensive animal production systems, linking traditional farming knowledge to the new demands of sustainable development.

This course will provide an excellent scientific basis to enable students to identify situations of compromised animal welfare and to intervene correctly to resolve them, suggesting more animal welfare-friendly farming methods. Students will receive the necessary tools for understanding the environmental impact of livestock farming, the valorisation of animal resources and production in the systems considered, in order to develop a critical and conscious spirit with regard to these issues.
In addition, the skills acquired will provide an understanding of the correct rearing, feeding and nutrition management for livestock mainly in extensive or semi-extensive farming systems.