The use of antibiotics in livestock production is both a public health concern and an animal welfare issue — well-treated animals require fewer antibiotics, and antibiotic stewardship improves welfare outcomes.
The relationship between antibiotic use and animal welfare is inverse and instructive: farms with better welfare conditions — lower stocking density, adequate enrichment, good ventilation, appropriate nutrition — consistently need fewer antibiotics because animals are healthier and more resilient. The primary driver of livestock antibiotic use is not individual treatment of sick animals but prophylactic and metaphylactic use in groups experiencing production-related stress and disease. Addressing the root causes — overcrowding, poor air quality, insufficient nutrition, and inadequate veterinary oversight — reduces both animal suffering and antibiotic dependency simultaneously. Antibiotic use is thus both a symptom and an indicator of welfare failure. Countries and producers that have reduced prophylactic antibiotic use without reducing production have generally done so by improving underlying welfare conditions.