Assessment of farm animal welfare at herd level: Many goals, many methods

This paper describes and compares nine methods of assessing the welfare of farm animals at herd level. A distinction is made between two types of welf are parameter: the environmental and the animal-based. The relative weight of these parameters, together with variation in their measurability, explai ns many of the differences between the methods with which the paper is conc erned. To discuss the merits of a given method it is necessary to look at t he goal it is intended to serve. Some methods compare production systems we ll. Others are better used in assisting the individual farmer to improve th e welfare of animals within his production system.