Development of expertise on animal health and welfare assessment of goats and sheep in Albania and Austria

Numbers of small ruminants are increasing in Austria and Albania, especially intensive dairy production as well as extensively kept animals in mountaneous regions. At the same time, challenges regarding welfare of animals are increasing (e.g. lameness, poor body condition) and expertise of farmers and advisors is sometimes missing. The overall aim of AA_GoSh! is therefore to develop expertise of young researchers regarding small ruminant health and welfare in Albania and Austria as a contribution towards on- farm improvement. The detailed objectives are: · Training of young researchers in health and welfare of ruminants (resulting in completion of two Master thesis, scientific papers and contribution to scientific conferences). · Development of Cooperation Networks within and between the two countries by bringing farmers and researchers together (through: exchange of visits to the respective countries. Visits to sheep and goat farms. Excursions; Meetings on virtual platforms e.g. ZOOM meeting and / or / WhatsApp group). · Contribution of knowledge on-farm health and welfare of small ruminants (extensive sheep farm and intensive goats’ farms) by jointly o Developing assessment protocols and testing interobserver- repeatability o Collecting data (Albania: 10 goat farms) and analyses existing data (Austria: 23 extensive sheep farms)