Livestock Mortality Monitoring: Welfare Indicators from Death Data

Mortality rates in livestock populations are among the most sensitive and reliable indicators of farm welfare outcomes, yet data collection and analysis remains inconsistent across the industry.

Key Facts

On-farm mortality rates in laying hens range from under 1% to over 15% annually across different housing systems
UK pig mortality averages 5-6% from birth to slaughter but varies enormously between farms with similar systems
Condemned carcasses at slaughter — rejected due to disease or injury — are a powerful retrospective welfare indicator
The Welfare Quality protocol includes on-farm mortality as a mandatory welfare outcome metric
High-welfare farms consistently show lower mortality rates than low-welfare farms with equivalent stocking
Mortality recording requires systematic daily observation and recording — itself a welfare-improving practice

Welfare Considerations

Mortality data is the crudest but most unambiguous welfare measure: animals that die before slaughter have experienced welfare failure of the most irreversible kind. The variance in mortality rates between farms with similar systems and genetics reveals the enormous impact of management quality on welfare outcomes. Farms where stockpersons monitor animals closely, respond rapidly to emerging disease, and maintain excellent hygiene and biosecurity show markedly lower mortality rates. Mandatory mortality recording and reporting would create accountability and identify poor performers in a way that voluntary assurance systems frequently miss.

What You Can Do

Support mandatory mortality reporting as a condition of farm assurance scheme membership
Advocate for on-farm mortality data to be published at industry level as a transparency measure
Ask food brands whether their supply chains track and respond to farm-level mortality rate data
Choose farm assurance schemes that include mortality as a primary welfare outcome metric
Support research into the relationship between stockmanship quality and mortality rates across species