Study on the major welfare problems of dairy cows from the Galicia region (NW Spain)
Ana Bugueiro, José Pedreira, Francisco Javier Diéguez
Abstract
The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the dairy cattle welfare in a population from the Galicia region (NW Spain) according to the Welfare Quality® protocol guidelines. For this purpose, 37 dairy farms were randomly selected. The on-farm welfare was evaluated according to Welfare Quality® guidelines. At principle level, the categorical classification indicated that regarding “good feeding” 5.4% (0%-13.1%) of the farms were classified as “excellent”, 29.7% (14.3%-45.3%) “enhanced”, 48.6% (31.7%-65.5%) “acceptable” and 16.2% (3.8%-28.7%) “not classified”. As regards “good housing”, 5.4% (0%-13.1%) were classified as “excellent”, 64.9% (48.7%-81.0%) “enhanced” and 29.7% (14.3%-45.2%) “acceptable”. 100% (100%-100%) were considered “acceptable” for the “good health” principle. Finally, for “appropriate behaviour” 2.7% (0-8.2%) was classified as “enhanced”, 13.5% (1.9%-25.1%) “acceptable” and 83.8% (71.3%-96.2%) “not classified”. Overall, according to the Welfare Quality® protocol 94.6% (86.5%-100%) farms were classified as “acceptable”, 2.7% (0-8.2%) as “enhanced” and 2.7% (0-8.2%) “not classified”. In conclusion, farms from Galicia could only be considered as “acceptable” in terms of animal welfare, presenting many areas for improvement. The principle scored at its lowest has been “appropriate behaviour”, presenting it as an issue not properly taken into the farmer consideration. Another warning aspect is the management of disease, marked on a bad score for “good health”: As it seems, farmers should include new health-control plans providing better prevention of disease, and include anaesthetic and analgesic plans for dehorning.
Keywords
References
Barker ZE, Leach KA, Whay HR, Bell NJ, Main DC (2010) Assessment of lameness prevalence and associated risk factors in dairy herds in England and Wales. Journal of Dairy Science 93:932-941.
Botreau R, Veissier I, Perny P (2009) Overall assessment of animal welfare: Strategy adopted in Welfare Quality®. Animal Welfare 18:363-370.
Boyer des Roches A, Vessier I, Coignard M, Bareille N, Guatteo R, Capdeville J, Gilot-Fromont E, Mounier L (2014) The major welfare problems of dairy cows in French commercial farms: an epidemiological approach. Animal welfare 23:467-478.
Bowell VA, Rennie LJ, Tierney G, Lawrence AB and Haskell MJ (2003) Relationship between building design, management system and dairy cow welfare. Animal Welfare 12:547-552.
Broom DM (2006) Behaviour and welfare in relation to pathology. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 97:73-83.
Brenninkmeyer C, Dippel S, Brinkman J, March S, Winckler C, Knierim U (2015) Investigating integument alterations in cubicle housed dairy cows: which types and locations can be combined? Animal 6:1-7.
Clark B, Stewart GB, Panzone LA, Kyriazakis I, Frewer LJ (2016) A systematic review of public attitudes, perceptions and behaviours towards production diseases associated with farm animal welfare. Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics 29: 455-478.
Faulkner PM and Weary DM (2000) Reducing pain after dehorning in dairy calves. Journal of Dairy Science. 83:2037-2041.
Fraiser F and Broom DM (1990) Farm animal behaviour and welfare. Baillière Tindall: London, UK.
Hauge SJ, Kielland C, Ringdal G, Skjerve E, Nafstad O (2012) Factors associated with cattle cleanliness on Norwegian dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science 95:2485-2496.
Irrange N and Knierim U (2012) Can pasture access contribute to reduced agnostic interactions and relaxation in the loose housing barn in horned dairy cows? In: Waiblinger S, Winckler C, Gutmann A (eds.) Proceedings of the 46th congress of the international society of animal ethology International Society for Applied Ethology: Vienna, Austria, pp 97.
Martelli G (2009) Comsumer´s perception of farm animal welfare: a Italian and European perspective. Italian Journal of Animal Science 8:31-41.
McKeekan CM, Stafford KJ, Mellor DJ (1998) Effects of regional analgesia and/or a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic on the acute cortisol responses to dehorning in calves. Research in Veterinary Science 64:147-15.
Müllerder C, Troxler J, Waiblinger S (2003) Methodological aspects for the assessment of social behavior and avoidance distance on dairy farms. Animal Welfare 12:579-584.
Napolitano F, Girolami A, Braguieri A (2010) Consumer liking and willingness to pay for high welfare animal-based products. Trends in Food Science & Technology 21:537-543.
Rouha-Mülleder C, Iben C, Wagner E, Laaha G, Troxler J, Waiblinger S (2009) Relative importance of factors influencing the prevalence of lameness in Asutralian cublicle loose-housed dairy cows. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 92:123-133.
Somers J and O’Grady L (2015). Foot lesions in lame cows on 10 dairy farms in Ireland. Irish Veterinary Journal 68:10.
Stilwell G, Carvalho RCD, Lima MS, and Broom DM (2009) Applied animal behaviour science. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 116:35-44.
Stock ML, Baldridge SL Griffin D and Coetzee JF (2013) Bovine dehorning: Assessing pain and providing analgesic management. Veterinary Clinics: Food Animal Practice 29:103-133.
Sylvester SP, Stafford KJ, Mellor DJ. Bruce RA, Ward RN (1998). Acute cortisol responses of calves to four methods of dehorning by amputation. Australian Veterinary Journal 76:123-126.
Vanhonacker F and Verbeke W (2014) Public and consumer policies for higher welfare food products: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 27:153-171.
Verbeke W (2009) Stakeholder, citizen and consumer interests in farm animal welfare. Animal Welfare 18:325-333.
Vickers KJ, Niel L, Kiehlbauch LM, Weary DM (2005). Calf response to caustic paste and hot iron dehorning using sedation with and without local anesthetic. Journal of Dairy Science 88:1454-1459.
Welfare Quality® consortium (2009) Welfare Quality® applied to dairy cows Welfare Quality® consortium (ed) Welfare Quality®: Assessment protocol for cattle ASG Veehouderij BV: Lelystad, The Netherlands, pp 69-111.
Submitted date:
03/23/2018
Reviewed date:
05/08/2018
Accepted date:
05/08/2018
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mendeley
StumbleUpon
CiteULike
Reddit
Email