Labour, Economics and Animal Welfare Assessing Animal Welfare in a Dairy Cattle Herd with an Automatic Milking System
نویسندگان
چکیده
In general there is an increased focus on animal welfare in dairy farms, and it is expected that animal welfare will be an important aspect for public accept of automatic milking systems (AMS) as a production system. Furthermore, experiences from previous studies indicate that there is a large variation between herds in general, regarding animal welfare, due to the effect of interactions between production system and management (Sandøe et al. 1997).
منابع مشابه
Dairy Cow Welfare in Automatic Milking Systems
INTRODUCTION With any housing or feeding system employed for dairy cattle, careful consideration should be made to both the individual’s and herd’s well-being. Providing optimal welfare for dairy cows is a multifaceted and challenging task. Factors such as good herd management, adequate barn environment, automated milking system (AMS) management, social dynamics of the herd, and human-animal in...
متن کاملA Cross-Sectional Study Into the Prevalence of Dairy Cattle Lameness and Associated Herd-Level Risk Factors in England and Wales
Lameness is one of the most pressing issues within the dairy industry; it has severe economic implications while causing a serious impact on animal welfare. A study conducted approximately 10 years ago found the within farm lameness prevalence in the UK to be 36.8%. Our objective here is to provide an update on within farm lameness prevalence in the UK, and to provide further evidence on farm l...
متن کامل1 Stepping Out : Recent Advances in Detecting Lameness in Dairy Cattle
Lameness in dairy cows impacts negatively on herd welfare and productivity. It is thought to be closely associated with avoidance of pain caused by limb lesions and, particularly in dairy cattle, by hoof lesions (Dyer et al., 2007). Freedom from pain is one of the Five Freedoms of animal welfare (FAWC, 1997), so lameness is a sign of poor welfare. Besides this, there are treatment costs (Almeid...
متن کاملAn Investigation of Automatic Milking Systems and their Impact on Dairy Cow Welfare
Farmers and researchers are interested in improving cow welfare in the dairy industry. One area of research involves use of automatic milking systems (AMS) on farms. These robotic systems have been shown to be effective in decreasing the prevalence of lameness in the herd (Leach et al., 2012) and decreasing cow stress (Dijkstra et al., 2012). According to Jacobs & Siegford (2012), cow wellbeing...
متن کاملHair cortisol detection in dairy cattle by using EIA: protocol validation and correlation with faecal cortisol metabolites.
Hair may be a useful matrix to detect cumulative cortisol concentrations in studies of animal welfare and chronic stress. The aim of this study was to validate a protocol for cortisol detection in hair from dairy cattle by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Seventeen adult Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were used during the milking period. Hair cortisol concentration was assessed in 25-day-old hair sample...
متن کامل