Small Ruminant Welfare, Production and Sustainability

Small ruminant production, particularly that of sheep and goats, has steadily increased over the years, with goat production alone doubling during the past three decades. Increased public attention to the impact of livestock management methods on animal well-being warrants rigorous research and dissemination of findings to address this issue. Small Ruminant Welfare, Production, and Sustainability focuses on advances in assessing and improving small ruminant well-being and the implications for the sheep and goat sectors worldwide. A variety of assessment systems for small-ruminant wellbeing are considered, including behavior, health, physiology, immunology, productivity, product quality, neural networks, thermal imaging, facial recognition, and artificial intelligence. Current methods and novel management practices are examined as they relate to both animal welfare and improvement of production systems.

Small Ruminant Welfare, Production, and Sustainability is a welcome addition to the current body of work the current body of work on small ruminant management systems and welfare. Researchers in the fields of animal science, agricultural science, neuroscience, ethics and veterinary medicine, as well as stakeholders in the small ruminant industry and policymakers will benefit from this multidisciplinary resource.

• Summarizes small ruminant well-being assessment methods. Includes multi-omics, artificial intelligence, and modeling
• Identifies advances in small ruminant production methods
• Provides practices to improve welfare, and increase productivity and product quality
• Explores small ruminants as alternatives for meat production