The rising global demand for animal protein is leading to intensification of livestock production systems. At the same time, societal concerns about sustainability and animal welfare in intensive systems is increasing. This review examines the risks to welfare for beef cattle within commercial feedlots in Australia. Several aspects of the feedlot environment have the potential to compromise the physical and psychological welfare of cattle if not properly monitored and managed. These include, but are not limited to, animal factors such as the influence of genetics, temperament and prior health, as well as management factors such as diet, pen design, resource provision, pregnancy management, and stock-person attitudes and skills. While current industry and producer initiatives exist to address some of these issues, continuous improvements in welfare requires accurate, reliable and repeatable measures to allow quantification of current and future welfare states. Existing measures of welfare are explored as well as proxy indicators that may signal the presence of improved or reduced welfare. Finally, potential future measures of welfare that are currently under development are discussed and recommendations for future research are made.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚饲养场肉牛的福利：风险和措施回顾

全球对动物蛋白的需求不断增长，导致畜牧生产系统的集约化。与此同时，社会对集约化系统中的可持续性和动物福利的担忧正在增加。本综述研究了澳大利亚商业饲养场内肉牛福利的风险。如果没有适当的监控和管理，饲养场环境的几个方面都有可能损害牛的身心健康。这些包括但不限于动物因素，例如遗传、气质和先前健康的影响，以及管理因素，例如饮食、笔设计、资源供应、怀孕管理以及饲养员的态度和技能。虽然目前存在解决其中一些问题的行业和生产商举措，福利的持续改善需要准确、可靠和可重复的措施，以便量化当前和未来的福利状况。探讨了现有的福利措施以及可能表明福利改善或减少的代理指标。最后，讨论了目前正在开发的潜在的未来福利措施，并对未来的研究提出了建议。