Systematic recording and analysis of livestock mortality reveals welfare problems, identifies patterns, and guides targeted interventions. On-farm mortality audit is both a welfare and economic tool.
Every animal death on a farm represents a welfare failure — an animal that suffered from disease, injury, or management failure to the point of death. Systematic mortality audit treats these deaths as data rather than inevitable losses, seeking patterns that reveal correctable problems. A sudden increase in young calf mortality points to a colostrum management failure; high lameness-related mortality indicates inadequate detection and treatment; pen-specific mortality spikes point to environmental hazards. Making welfare problems visible through mortality data is the first step toward fixing them.