PIGLOW application for animal welfare self-assessment by farmers

Summary

The PIGLOW smartphone app was designed for organic and free-range farmers to monitor the welfare of their own pigs. The app contains animal-based questions that relate to one of the 4 Welfare Quality principles: good housing, good feeding, good health and appropriate behaviour. The results include scores/average percentages for each welfare indicator, automated advice with risk factors for possible welfare problems, and an anonymous comparison with the scores of other app users (benchmarking). Once a farmer has completed multiple welfare scans, a graph will show how their scores have changed over time, providing a historical record of welfare on the farm. Using the PIGLOW app could help increase awareness of potential welfare problems and its risk factors, which could make it easier to prevent problems from occurring. Farmers are advised to discuss the results with their veterinarian or other advisors to, if relevant, come up with the best approach to improve animal welfare on their farm.