Table 15.
Applicant's definition and interpretation | EFSA's comments | Welfare outcomesa | |
---|---|---|---|
Physiological indicators | |||
Increase in heart rate variability | NA | A stress response in birds is manifested by an increase in HR and a decrease in HRV in all frequency bands (Carravieri et al., 2016). Thus, one can predict that HRV in LAPS will go down. However, even if it was not analysed in the Paper 7 of the applicant, it is visible in Figure 5 that arrhythmia is observed after LAPS application. It is known that the autonomous nervous system (ANS) that controls the heart also controls breathing. Thus, the observed HRV can be interpreted not as a stress response, but as a respiratory arrhythmia. Taking into account highly abnormal respiratory conditions in LAPS, the heart rate measurements can be strongly biased and can't be used as reliable indicators | Pain and/or Distress and/or Suffering |
Decrease in heart rate variability | NA | (see above) | Loss of Consciousness and Sensitivity |
Green = no welfare concern; orange = some degree of welfare concern (absent in this table); red = serious welfare concern.