Assessment of animal welfare in dairy cows in a farm of Comarca Lagunera, México
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19136/era.a11nIV.4122Keywords:
animal welfare, dairy cows, intensive systemAbstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the animal welfare status of dairy cows in an intensive production unit, using the Welfare Quality protocol. A total of 315 lactating and dry cows were evaluated, based on four principles: adequate feeding, housing, health and behavior. To achieve this, animal-based, management-based and housing-based measures were recorded. As indicated in the protocol, most of them contain a three-point scale ranging from zero to two, 0: welfare is good, 1: there is some compromise in welfare and 2: welfare is insufficient and unacceptable. The critical variables found for cow welfare were: absence of thirst; cleanliness of quarters (46.62%), udder (13.42%) and flanks (38.34%); time to lie down (5.24 s); dystocia (24%), eye discharge (6.27%) and diarrhea (100%). It is concluded that the production unit has important areas of opportunity to improve the animal welfare of its cows, according to the standards proposed by the Welfare Quality protocol.
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