scholarly journals Best Farming Practices for the Welfare of Dairy Cows, Heifers and Calves

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2645
Author(s):  
Giulia Ventura ◽  
Valentina Lorenzi ◽  
Francesca Mazza ◽  
Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente ◽  
Claudia Iacomino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Integrated Monitoring ◽  
Life Worth Living ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Reference Centre ◽  
High Level

The concept of animal welfare (AW) has many meanings. Traditionally, AW has been considered as freedom from disease and suffering. Nowadays, growing attention goes to the concept of “positive animal welfare” (PAW), which can be interpreted within the concept of quality of life (QoL), thinking about a “balance of positives over negatives” and a “life worth living”. In this vision, where the QoL represents a continuum between positives and negatives, the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA), within the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), has developed a welfare assessment protocol for dairy cows, heifers, and calves in loose housing systems, including both animal-based and non-animal-based indicators, in which not only hazards but also benefits are identified. This protocol is part of an integrated monitoring system called “ClassyFarm”, belonging to the Italian Ministry of Health and developed by IZSLER. The aim of this paper is to extrapolate from the mentioned protocol, a list of 38 best farming practices (on managerial and equipment factors) for ensuring a high level of welfare in dairy cattle. All stakeholders (veterinarians, farmers, competent authorities, consumers, etc.) can benefit of these best practices as a guide or toolbox to ensure a life worth living for these animals.

Application of psychometrics to assess quality of life in animals.

2021 ◽  
pp. 125-140
Author(s):  
Jacky Reid ◽  
Andrea Nolan ◽  
Marian Scott
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Life Worth Living ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Assess Quality

Abstract Animal welfare research is gradually moving towards inclusion of positive welfare, with the consideration of how animals can be provided a good life or a life worth living. The concept of quality of life, which originates from human medical sciences, definitely contributes to this. In this chapter the developers of the health-related quality of life tool for dogs share their expertise.

scholarly journals Understanding natural behavior to improve dairy goat (Capra hircus) management systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gosia Zobel ◽  
Heather W Neave ◽  
Jim Webster
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Production Efficiency ◽  
Cognitive Stimulation ◽  
Capra Hircus ◽  
Dairy Goat ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Behavioral Strategies ◽  
Dairy Goats ◽  
Life Worth Living ◽  
Commercial Housing

Abstract Public interest is stimulating farming industries to improve animal welfare in production systems. Indoor housing of ruminants has received scrutiny because of perceived intensiveness and lack of naturalness. Animal welfare has traditionally focused on health benefits (e.g., bedding management and reducing disease) and reducing negative experiences (e.g., painful husbandry practices). Recent attention to animals having “a life worth living” extends expectations to provide increased care and opportunities for positive experiences and natural behaviors. Although not all natural behaviors necessarily contribute to improved welfare, we present evidence for why many are important, and for how they can be promoted in commercial systems. Worldwide, commercial dairy goats (Capra hircus) are frequently housed in large open barns with space to move and soft bedding for lying; however, this is not sufficient to promote the range of natural behaviors of goats, which in turn suggests that commercial housing could be improved. The basis for this thinking is from the range of behaviors expressed by the Capra genus. Collectively, these species have evolved cognitive and behavioral strategies to cope with harsh and changing environments, as well as variable and limited vegetation. The rocky and often steep terrain that goats inhabit allows for predator avoidance and access to shelter, so it is not surprising that domesticated goats also seek out elevation and hiding spaces; indeed, their hoof structure is designed for the movement and grip in such rugged environments. The browsing techniques and flexibility in diet selection of wild, feral and extensively managed goats, appears to be equally important to housed goats, highlighting the need for more complexity in how and what goats are fed. Goats naturally live in small, dynamic groups, governed by complex social structures in which horns play a strong role. Commercial housing systems should consider the benefits of more natural-sized social groups and revisit the rationale behind horn removal. We suggest that cognitive stimulation is a potential welfare improvement for goats in commercial settings. Goat cognitive abilities, which enabled success in complex and variable social and physical environments, are unchallenged in uniform environments, potentially leading to negative affective states. We make suggestions for housing improvements that could be readily adopted into current systems without compromising production efficiency.

scholarly journals A New, Practical Animal Welfare Assessment for Dairy Farmers

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 881
Author(s):  
Frank J. C. M. van Eerdenburg ◽  
Alice M. Di Giacinto ◽  
Jan Hulsen ◽  
Bert Snel ◽  
J. Arjan Stegeman
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Category Score ◽  
Poor Welfare

The Welfare Quality® assessment protocol (WQ) is the most extensive way to measure animal welfare. This study was set up to determine if resource-based welfare indicators, that are easier and faster to measure, could replace the more time consuming, animal-based measurements of the WQ. The WQ was applied on 60 dairy farms in the Netherlands, with good, moderate and poor welfare. The WQ protocol classified most farms (87%) as ‘acceptable’. Several of the animal-based measures of WQ correlated well with measures in the environment. Using these correlations, an alternative welfare assessment protocol (new Welfare Monitor) was designed, which takes approximately 1.5 h for a farm with 100 dairy cows. Because the opinion of farmers about welfare assessment is important if one wants to improve conditions for the cows at a farm, another objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the new Welfare Monitor for the farmer. Over two years, the farms were visited, and advice was given to improve the conditions at the farm. After the first welfare assessment and advice, farmers improved the conditions for their cows substantially. Farms where the category score had increased made more improvements on average than those that did not upgrade.

Animal welfare and biosecurity assessment: a comparison between Italian and Irish beef cattle rearing systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Francesca Fusi ◽  
Valentina Lorenzi ◽  
Giorgio Franceschini ◽  
Riccardo Compiani ◽  
Valeria Harper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Ideal Condition ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Feeding Management ◽  
Reference Centre ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Ideal

Context European beef production is facing fresh challenges on various fronts: increasing public concern on animal welfare; declining EU meat consumption; and, conversely, expected growth in global demand for meat. The Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA) has developed an assessment protocol for collecting information about beef cattle welfare and biosecurity conditions, with the intention of better understanding animal needs and disseminating best practices. Aims The protocol was applied on Italian and Irish farms, and the results were used as a starting point for a specific statistical analysis for comparing animal welfare and biosecurity levels in the two countries. Methods The protocol consists of animal-based measures and non-animal-based measures (management-based and resource-based indicators) and has been designed to determine the major hazards and benefits that can influence cattle health and welfare, including the presence of biosecurity issues. The outcomes of welfare and biosecurity assessments conducted during November 2016–July 2017 of 40 Irish beef herds reared indoors were compared with those of 85 Italian beef units assessed over the same period. Differences obtained within each beef-unit distribution were calculated by the VARNC index (diversity index), and a distance estimate of the beef-unit distribution from a hypothetical ideal condition was calculated by using the distance from ideal (dfi) index. Key results The dfi index revealed that Irish farms were closer to the ideal condition for the measures ‘experience and training of stockpersons’, ‘water provision’, ‘handling facilities’, ‘restraint facilities’, and ‘temperature, humidity and ventilations conditions’. Italian farms were closer to the ideal condition for ‘diet calculation and feed quality’, ‘feeding management’, ‘feeding place dimension’, ‘cleanliness of water points’, ‘cleanliness of floors’, ‘type of floors’, ‘cleanliness of animals’, and ‘integument alterations’. In contrast to the Italian farms, there was particular awareness of the importance of biosecurity on Irish farms. Conclusions The results revealed intrinsic management and housing differences between the two rearing systems, although only few dissimilarities were found in the animal outcomes: in fact, the assessment of the animal-based measures gave very similar results for the two countries, except for ‘cleanliness of the animals’ and ‘integument alterations’. Implications In the face of global challenges affecting the pursuit of farming sustainability, farmers should be encouraged to improve safeguards for animal welfare and reduce the spread of animal diseases. This can be achieved by facilitating knowledge exchange internationally.

scholarly journals Welfare Assessment of Dairy Cows in Small Farms in Bangladesh

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
M. Ariful Islam ◽  
Arvind Sharma ◽  
S. Ahsan ◽  
S. Mazumdar ◽  
K.C Rudra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
The Body ◽  
Small Farms ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol

Protocols for assessing the welfare of dairy cows in large scale intensive dairy systems in the developed world have been used extensively. Little attention has been paid to the use of similar welfare assessment protocols for small dairy enterprises in developing countries. We modified part of the standard assessment protocol and used it to assess aspects of the welfare of dairy cows in a field survey of 70 small farms in the Sirajgonj district of Bangladesh. Welfare indicators selected were mainly those of health and economic importance, such as lameness, lesions on the body and limbs, cleanliness levels, milk yield, and body condition. The study included physical examination of 700 cows and use of a structured questionnaire to collect data on health and management practices and farmers’ perspectives about animal welfare. Mean milk yield, averaged across farms, was 10.3 L/d (range 6.3–14.2) and body condition assessment indicated that cows were, on average, thin. Hygiene management was often poor, with soiling of body parts with faeces. The prevalence of lameness, at 4.3%, was less than has commonly been observed in larger, more intensive dairy farms, but body injuries were commonly detected at the carpal and hock joints (56 and 51% of cows, respectively). This suggests that floors and/or bedding to lie on were inadequate. Many farmers did not follow routine vaccination and deworming schedules (63% and 31%, respectively) and farmers were not generally aware of the concept of animal welfare. The study demonstrates some similar welfare issues to those that have been commonly identified in large, intensive units, but also some differences, in particular a failure to provide good floors, bedding, and basic health care.

Negative attitudes of Danish dairy farmers to their livestock correlates negatively with animal welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
SN Andreasen ◽  
P Sandøe ◽  
S Waiblinger ◽  
B Forkman
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Patient Handling ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
High Level ◽  
Danish Dairy

Positive stockperson attitudes to his or her animals is associated with a positive behavioural response in the animals and in other indicators assumed to reflect a high level of welfare as well as increased productivity, eg in milk yield. Conversely, negative attitudes have been found to have the opposite effect. However, so far, no attempt has been made to link the attitudes of stockpersons to outcomes of comprehensive protocols assessing animal welfare at farm level. In the study reported here, attitudes of Danish dairy farmers are compared with the on-farm welfare of dairy cows as assessed by the Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol. In 35 dairy herds the welfare was assessed, and the farmers filled in a self-report questionnaire on their attitudes to dairy cows and how they should be handled. The farmers on the farms with the lowest total welfare score could, according to the self-report questionnaire, be characterised as those with a negative attitude to the handling of cows (eg less strongly disliked to kick a cow or use a stick, when necessary). As expected, farmer behavioural attitudes regarding different situations correlated: for example, farmers who liked more to work with and have positive interactions with the cows also agreed more on patient handling and the importance of regular positive contact. Furthermore, farms where farmers gave cows a positive characteristic were found to score highly on the WQ principle 'Appropriate behaviour'.

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