Welfare of dairy cows
Ver/Abrir
Autor/a
EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW)
Nielsen, Søren Saxmose
Alvarez, Julio
Bicout, Dominique Joseph
Calistri, Paolo
Canali, Elisabetta
Drewe, Julian Ashley
Garin-Bastuji, Bruno
Gonzales Rojas, Jose Luis
Gortázar Schmidt, Christian
Herskin, Mette
Michel, Virginie
Miranda Chueca, Miguel Ángel
Padalino, Barbara
Roberts, Helen Clare
Spoolder, Hans
Stahl, Karl
Viltrop, Arvo
De Boyer des Roches, Alice
Bak Jensen, Margit
Mee, John
Green, Martin
Thulke, Hans-Hermann
Bailly-Caumette, Elea
Candiani, Denise
Lima, Eliana
Van der Stede, Yves
Winckler, Christoph
Otros/as autores/as
Dominique Joseph Bicout
Fecha de publicación
2023-05-16ISSN
1831-4732
Resumen
This Scientific Opinion addresses a European Commission's mandate on the welfare of dairy cows as part of the Farm to Fork strategy. It includes three assessments carried out based on literature reviews and complemented by expert opinion. Assessment 1 describes the most prevalent housing systems for dairy cows in Europe: tie-stalls, cubicle housing, open-bedded systems and systems with access to an outdoor area. Per each system, the scientific opinion describes the distribution in the EU and assesses the main strengths, weaknesses and hazards potentially reducing the welfare of dairy cows. Assessment 2 addresses five welfare consequences as requested in the mandate: locomotory disorders (including lameness), mastitis, restriction of movement and resting problems, inability to perform comfort behaviour and metabolic disorders. Per each welfare consequence, a set of animal-based measures is suggested, a detailed analysis of the prevalence in different housing systems is provided, and subsequently, a comparison of the housing systems is given. Common and specific system-related hazards as well as management-related hazards and respective preventive measures are investigated. Assessment 3 includes an analysis of farm characteristics (e.g. milk yield, herd size) that could be used to classify the level of on-farm welfare. From the available scientific literature, it was not possible to derive relevant associations between available farm data and cow welfare. Therefore, an approach based on expert knowledge elicitation (EKE) was developed. The EKE resulted in the identification of five farm characteristics (more than one cow per cubicle at maximum stocking density, limited space for cows, inappropriate cubicle size, high on-farm mortality and farms with less than 2 months access to pasture). If one or more of these farm characteristics are present, it is recommended to conduct an assessment of cow welfare on the farm in question using animal-based measures for specified welfare consequences.
Tipo de documento
Artículo
Versión del documento
Versión publicada
Lengua
English
Materias (CDU)
636 - Explotación y cría de animales. Cría del ganado y de animales domésticos
Páginas
177
Publicado por
Wiley Open Access
Publicado en
EFSA Journal
Citación
Nielsen, Søren Saxmose, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, and Bruno Garin‐Bastuji et al. 2023. " Welfare of dairy cows". EFSA Journal 21 (5). doi:10.2903/j.efsa. 2023.7993.
Program
Benestar Animal
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