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Environmental Sciences Europe

Table 4 Recalculation of the average body weight of several animal types

From: Critical discussion of the current environmental risk assessment (ERA) of veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) in the European Union, considering changes in animal husbandry

Animal type Linear growth Transition Fully grown Birth weight (kg) Weaning weight (kg) Age at the end of the linear gain phase (d) Weight at the end of the linear gain phase (kg) Age at the fully grown stage (d) Weight at the fully grown stage (kg) Average body weight (kg)a Authors correction and other comments that explain dissenting suggestions for default values in Table 3 (body weight, kg) References
Calf (0–6 months) x – – 50 50 365 300 – –  > 175 Production ends earlier, but 140 seems to be a little low [115]
Dairy cow – x x 50 50 365–450 300–350 750–1250 500–800  > 550 425 seems to be low [115, 116]
Cattle (> 0.5 y) – x x 50 50 180–300 250–380 – –  > 415 New category; production ends earlier (330) [117]
Weaner pig (up to 25 kg) x – – 1.4 6.5–8.0 13–15 7–13 – – 13.2 (15.8) Birth weight was neglected; therefore, 12.5 seems to be low [118,119,120]
Fattening pig (25–125 kg) x – – 1.4 6.5–8.0 70–160 25–125 – – 75 Production ends earlier; therefore, 65 is realistic [119,120,121]
Sow (with litter) – x x 1.4 6.5–8.0 180–200 1–130 600–1000 320–380  > 280 (> 310) 240 seems to be low [120, 122]
Boar (25–125 kg) x – – 1.4 6.5–8.0 200–220 1–170 500–800 380–420 75 Production ends earlier; therefore, 65 is realistic [120, 122]
Broiler x x – 0.04–0.05 – 28 1–1.2 63–84 3.1–4.1 1.6 Production ends earlier; therefore, 1.0 is realistic [123, 124]
Laying hen – x x 0.04–0.05 – 120–140 1.1–1.2 210–560 1.6–2.5  > 1.5 Corrected for underestimation; 1.6 is realistic [124, 125]
Replacement layer x – – 0.04–0.05 – 120–140 1.1–1.2 210–560 1.6–1.8  > 0.6 Corrected for underestimation; 0.8 is realistic [124, 125]
Broiler breeder x x x 0.04–0.05 – 189–200 2.5–2.75 280–420 3.5–3.75  > 1.4 Corrected for underestimation; 1.7 is realistic [126, 127]
Turkey x x x 0.06 – 48–50 2.2 91–126 6–9.5  > 4.8 Corrected for underestimation; 6.5 is realistic [127]
Duck x x – 0.04–0.08 – 14–49 0.5 70–140 3.1–3.8 1.9 Production ends earlier; therefore, 1.6 is realistic [128]
Horse x x x 48 180–200 250–330 200–250 480–720 400–700  > 375 Corrected for underestimation; 400 is realistic [129, 130]
Dairy goat x x x 4.7 8–14 85–90 10 270–390 30–60  > 33 New category [131,132,133]
Dairy sheep x x x 4.4 20–25 60 23.7 230–370 50–60  > 33 New category [134]
Rabbit x x –  < 0.5 0.6–0.7 30 0.8 100–300 3.5–4 2.3 Production ends earlier; therefore, 1.4 is realistic [135, 136]
  1. aAverage body weight in parentheses reflects the definition of the animal type “mother with offspring until weaning”
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