The overuse of antibiotics in livestock farming drives antimicrobial resistance while masking underlying welfare problems that, if addressed, would reduce the need for treatment.
The welfare-resistance relationship runs in both directions: poor welfare increases disease and drives antibiotic use, while dependence on antibiotics as a management tool perpetuates the poor conditions that cause disease. Treating sick animals with antibiotics is a welfare obligation, but using antibiotics prophylactically to compensate for overcrowded, dirty, or stressful conditions allows welfare problems to persist. Farms that improve welfare through better housing, enrichment, and husbandry consistently reduce antibiotic use and disease rates. Antibiotic stewardship is therefore inseparable from genuine welfare improvement.