Today we met with a Dutch livestock trailer manufacturer and a climate specialist about the welfare of pigs in cross-ventilated livestock trucks. These are enclosed livestock trucks that are mechanically ventilated. The consultation was prompted by our transport inspections during the summers of 2019 and 2020. Eyes on Animals measured the … [Read more...] about Consultation with a trailer manufacturer and a climate specialist on cross-ventilated livestock trucks
Our inspections
Visit to goat farm Ter Veen where kids stay with their mothers
Today we visited goat farm Ter Veen in Dorkwerd. At Ter Veen, the goat kids (both male and female) stay with their mothers in the herd for at least 12 weeks after birth. This is unusual because on most dairy goat farms the kids are taken away from the mother after birth, to be kept by themselves, in a plastic container and are fed colostrum through a … [Read more...] about Visit to goat farm Ter Veen where kids stay with their mothers
Inspection calf transports in Zuid-Holland
Today Eyes on Animals performed inspections of livestock trucks on a parking lot in Zuid-Holland. Drivers regularly wait here until they can unload the animals at the slaughterhouse nearby. We arrived around noon when the outside temperature was about 26C. There was enough shade for the cattle trucks due to high trees at the edge of the parking lot. There were … [Read more...] about Inspection calf transports in Zuid-Holland
Concerns about forced-ventilated closed livestock trucks
Eyes on Animals has written to several major truck-design companies regarding concerns we have with forced-ventilated closed livestock trucks. These trucks are completely closed and automatically ventilated. During our summer inspections, however, we witnessed this ventilation is not always sufficient, making these trucks very hot and humid - resulting in heat … [Read more...] about Concerns about forced-ventilated closed livestock trucks
Work at a German dairy farm that produces milk for Eltern Zeit label (keep the calves with their mothers in the herd)
This week Eyes on Animals spent 5 days at a dairy farm in northern Germany that keeps the calves for at least 3 months with their mothers in the herd. It is one of 5 dairy farms in between Hamburg and Flensburg that produces milk for a new label called ElternZeit, which means “ Parent Time”. These dairy farms do not see new-born calves as an unwanted by-product, but … [Read more...] about Work at a German dairy farm that produces milk for Eltern Zeit label (keep the calves with their mothers in the herd)