Center for Food Animal Wellbeing gets ‘Boots on the Ground’ with veterinarians
Oct. 14, 2025
By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
Fast facts
- Perspective of veterinarians focus of 11th annual symposium
- Veterinarians speak on poultry, swine, cattle wellbeing issues
- Farmer peer influence contributes to accepting new ideas for animal wellbeing
(1,237 words)
Download related PHOTOS at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCw8BF and https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCwGZe.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In the world of food animal production, veterinarians are on the front lines helping producers address both the physical health and wellbeing of the animal.
Although they may not be able to converse with animals like Hollywood’s “Dr. Dolittle,” veterinarians and those who work with animals can read body language and may recognize some audio cues that signify stress. High stress situations in animals can suppress immune response, according to Shawna Weimer, assistant professor of poultry science and director of the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing.
As pointed out in the center’s 11th annual symposium at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences, the American Veterinary Medical Association’s oath has included a pledge to safeguard animal wellbeing alongside animal health since 2010. The symposium, which was themed “Boots on the Ground: Animal Welfare from the Veterinary Perspective,” was held in-person and online Oct. 2. About 300 people registered for the event.
“I encourage you to think about how you are living out not just the protection of animal health, but also the protection of animal health and welfare,” said Jen Walker, DVM, of Kinder Ground. “What are we doing not just to provide relief to animals but also to prevent harm to those animals?”
Kinder Ground works to improve the living conditions of farm animals through education and outreach programs. While there is a long list of things farmers must do to keep their animals alive and thriving, there are also a few little things that can be done to improve animal wellbeing, including feelings of safety and alleviating boredom, Walker noted.
Brushes for pigs and cows to rub their faces on and scratch hard-to-reach places, and plastic huts for broiler chickens to perch on or congregate around for a feeling of safety, were offered as examples. For pastures without trees, shade systems that resemble large patio umbrellas are also used by cows even on cooler, sunny days, Walker said.
Ultimately, peer influence plays an important role when bringing new ideas to the table, including tactics to improve animal wellbeing, Walker said.
“They need to see for themselves, and farmers learn best from other farmers, so let’s amplify those voices,” Walker said.
Upsides and downsides
Kate Barger, DVM, principal veterinary consultant for KB Welfare Consulting, spoke about the complicated nature of animal wellbeing, which is different for different cultures. She showed photos of her visits to different poultry growing operations, stateside and overseas. Each offered positives and potential negatives for animal health and wellbeing.
One barn in the Netherlands was shaped like an airplane wing with natural light and airflow, and “dark brooders” for broiler chicks. However, the innovative house was very expensive. Another poultry house in the Netherlands, resembling a large barn with high ceilings, offered little doorways for the birds to go outside to a patio area with wood shavings. But most of the chickens just stayed inside, perhaps because of the cold weather, or perhaps there was not a good enough reason to venture out with just wood shavings in the “winter garden.”
A rolling greenhouse in California offered chickens continual access to fresh green grass, but there was more potential for predation.
She deemed a three-tiered growing operation in the Philippines as excellent for bird health and biosecurity.
“The air quality in this house was probably the best house that I’ve been in, in the world,” Barger said. “No ammonia, because they had 50 tunnel fans … some of the best footpad quality that I’ve ever seen in the world, because they had no exposure to wet litter.”
This type of operation was viewed as being low on wellbeing, particularly by European audiences, she said, because the chickens couldn’t dustbathe.
Barger agreed, but it begged the question: “How do we balance really good positives in each of these models with the potential negatives?”
“I think welfare is not always a silver bullet,” Barger said. “We can't say we are going to achieve every single thing, every time. We want to talk about progress and not perfection.”
Small changes, big impact
The symposium also featured presentations by Brooke Kitting, senior veterinarian for Seaboard Foods, on individual pig care and Cole Crumpacker, staff veterinarian for Butterball, on turkey welfare amid challenges imposed by the metapneumovirus.
Kitting reminded the audience that animal wellbeing improvements can be driven by small producers and large corporations alike.
“One thing that we’ve learned is it’s not always the big things that we do, it’s the small things that add up over time, the consistency that we drive that makes the biggest improvement and everyone in the organization has the power to make a difference,” Kitting said.
For example, Laura Tensa, veterinarian for Wilcox Farms in the Pacific Northwest, said a turkey producer came to her with an interest in providing enrichments and offered the suggestion of some children’s toys hanging low enough for the turkeys to peck.
“As you walked up you could hear the birds playing the tambourine, and this was one that was interactive and the birds never lost interest through the flock,” Tensa said. “We’re starting to see some shifting mentalities … just because it’s always been done one way doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement and doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try something else.”
Avian metapneumovirus
A big change in turkey farming has been dealing with avian metapneumovirus, or aMPV, a highly contagious disease that affects the upper respiratory system and leads to high rates of death.
“The virus itself doesn’t actually kill the bird,” Crumpacker said. “It immunosuppresses the bird so much that they end up succumbing to secondary bacterial infections.”
Tools to cope with aMPV that Crumpacker has developed with his team at Butterball include keeping humidity below 60 percent and not tilling litter if any clinical signs are spotted. Crumpacker also recommended consistent water sanitation and acidification, increasing the grow house temperature by 10 to 15 degrees and being cautious with tunnel wind speeds.
“The worst thing you can do for aMPV is chill the birds,” Crumpacker said. “If the birds get cold, it’s over with. You have to aggressively increase your set temperature. Most importantly respond to what the birds are telling you. Often, we had to go to extreme measures to keep these birds comfortable.”
Use of a vaccine for aMPV that has been used in Europe for 30 years has not helped much, he added.
Shaping animal care
Weimer said that as veterinarians, the speakers brought not only clinical expertise but also a deep understanding of the systems and people that shape animal care.
“Their talks have highlighted real-world challenges, innovative solutions, and the evolving role of veterinary medicine in sustainable agriculture,” Weimer said. “Whether working in poultry, swine, dairy, or egg production, each speaker represented the boots-on-the-ground approach to improving the lives of agricultural animals.”
Recordings of the symposium presentations will be made available on the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing website.
The Center for Food Animal Wellbeing is a unit of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. The center’s mission is to disseminate science-based information and drive innovation towards practices and technologies that cultivate animal welfare for ethical and sustainable food systems.
Weimer is also part of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science through Bumpers College and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture.
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact: John Lovett
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
(479) 763-5929
jlovett@uada.edu