Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T19:58:16.446Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preliminary Investigation Into the Use of Expert Opinion to Compare the Overall Welfare of Dairy Cattle Farms in Different Farm Assurance Schemes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

D C J Main ,
H R Whay ,
L E Green  and
A J F Webster
D C J Main*
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
H R Whay
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK Ecology and Epidemiology Group, University of Warwick, Department of Biological Sciences, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
L E Green
Affiliation:
Ecology and Epidemiology Group, University of Warwick, Department of Biological Sciences, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
A J F Webster
Affiliation:
Ecology and Epidemiology Group, University of Warwick, Department of Biological Sciences, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: D.C.J.Main@bristol.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper describes an approach to assessing the overall welfare of cows on dairy farms. Veterinary and behaviour experts were shown results for ten selected welfare parameters for 25 pairs of dairy farms paired for farm assurance status but with similar geographical location and husbandry system. From this information alone they were asked to state which farms had better welfare. Overall, there were no significant differences between the conclusions of veterinary and behaviour experts. There was a significant relationship between the proportion of experts rating a farm as poorer and the measured difference in the number of cows with lameness or rising restrictions between the paired farms. There were no significant relationships between the expert decisions and differences in milk yield, flight distance, swollen hocks, mastitis incidence, dystocia level, conception rates, prevalence of thin cows and proportion of cows with dirty udders. Clearly, experts rate lameness and discomfort as highly important indices of poor welfare in dairy cows.

Keywords

animal welfaredairy cattlefarm assuranceintegrationwelfare
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 12 , Issue 4: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , November 2003 , pp. 565 - 569
Copyright
© 2003 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bartussek, H 1999 A review of the animal needs index (ANI) for the assessment of animal's well-being in housing systems for Austrian proprietary products and legislation. Livestock Production Science 61: 179–192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farm Animal Welfare Council 1997 Report on the welfare of dairy cattle. FAWC: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Main, D C J, Webster, A J F and Green, L E 2001 Animal welfare assessment in farm assurance schemes. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica (Section A — Animal Science) 30: 108–113 (Suppl)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whay, H R, Main, D C J, Green, L E and Webster, A J F 2003a Animal-based measures for the assessment of welfare state of dairy cattle, pigs and laying hens: consensus of expert opinion. Animal Welfare 12: 205–219Google Scholar
Whay, H R, Main, D C J, Green, L E and Webster, A J F 2003b Assessment of the welfare of dairy cattle using animal-based measurements: direct observations and investigation of farm records. Veterinary Record 153: 197–202CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed