On-farm welfare assessment in dairy goats in the Brazilian Northeast

Dairy goat production in the Midwestern United States is increasing at a rapid rate and information on dairy goat husbandry practices applicable for producers in this region is limited. The objective of this study was to survey 30 dairy goat farms in the Midwestern US to provide insight into husbandry practices pertaining to health, welfare, and production, and to identify areas of future research. A questionnaire was developed and comprised 163 questions that were organized into categories including information on the producer (e.g., farming experience), staff, and goats (e.g., herd size, breed), housing, feeding and nutrition, milking practices and production, kid management, husbandry practices (e.g., disbudding, castration, hoof trimming), and health. Areas of future research that can improve goat health, production and welfare include pain relief for husbandry practices such as disbudding and castration, early kid management during birth to prevent illness/disease or mortality (e.g., warm and dry areas for kid rearing), eradication programs for common contagious diseases, training programs and education for claw trimming, disbudding, and udder health. In conclusion, this study provided insight into the husbandry practices carried out on 30 dairy goat farms in the Midwestern US and areas of research to improve health and welfare.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Health and Welfare Survey of 30 Dairy Goat Farms in the Midwestern United States

Hempstead

Lindquist

Shearer

et al. 2021

“…Heat stress must be considered in these evaluations as well as each breed’s capacity to adapt and cope with its environment [ 15 ]. Breeds selected to live in extensive or pasture farming systems are usually more resilient and well adapted to the climatic conditions [ 38 , 39 ]. However, when exposed to temperatures outside their thermal comfort zone, more sturdy animals may mask poor welfare signs, making assessment very difficult [ 39 ].…”

Section: Sheep and Goat Extensive Production Systems: The Importance ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Breeds selected to live in extensive or pasture farming systems are usually more resilient and well adapted to the climatic conditions [ 38 , 39 ]. However, when exposed to temperatures outside their thermal comfort zone, more sturdy animals may mask poor welfare signs, making assessment very difficult [ 39 ]. The volatility of these circumstances poses an enormous and complex challenge for welfare assessment in small ruminant species kept in harsher environmental conditions.…”

Section: Sheep and Goat Extensive Production Systems: The Importance ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

Silva

Sacarrão-Birrento

Almeida

et al. 2022

Sheep and goat extensive production systems are very important in the context of global food security and the use of rangelands that have no alternative agricultural use. In such systems, there are enormous challenges to address. These include, for instance, classical production issues, such as nutrition or reproduction, as well as carbon-efficient systems within the climate-change context. An adequate response to these issues is determinant to economic and environmental sustainability. The answers to such problems need to combine efficiently not only the classical production aspects, but also the increasingly important health, welfare, and environmental aspects in an integrated fashion. The purpose of the study was to review the application of technological developments, in addition to remote-sensing in tandem with other state-of-the-art techniques that could be used within the framework of extensive production systems of sheep and goats and their impact on nutrition, production, and ultimately, the welfare of these species. In addition to precision livestock farming (PLF), these include other relevant technologies, namely omics and other areas of relevance in small-ruminant extensive production: heat stress, colostrum intake, passive immunity, newborn survival, biomarkers of metabolic disease diagnosis, and parasite resistance breeding. This work shows the substantial, dynamic nature of the scientific community to contribute to solutions that make extensive production systems of sheep and goats more sustainable, efficient, and aligned with current concerns with the environment and welfare.

“…Agonistic behavior is considered a welfare indicator and is commonly related to the reduced size of resting area, regrouping and limited feed and water resources). Queuing at feeding may also be used to evaluate the quality of social interactions among goats [ 136 , 137 ]. These authors observed that goats that had a low rank in the hierarchy spent more time queuing than the medium and higher ranked goats, which revealed that these competitive environments are a welfare issue for subordinates.…”

Section: Different Indicators Of Goat Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Heat Stress and Goat Welfare: Adaptation and Production Considerations

Sejian

Silpa

Nair

et al. 2021

This review attempted to collate and synthesize information on goat welfare and production constraints during heat stress exposure. Among the farm animals, goats arguably are considered the best-suited animals to survive in tropical climates. Heat stress was found to negatively influence growth, milk and meat production and compromised the immune response, thereby significantly reducing goats’ welfare under extensive conditions and transportation. Although considered extremely adapted to tropical climates, their production can be compromised to cope with heat stress. Therefore, information on goat adaptation and production performance during heat exposure could help assess their welfare. Such information would be valuable as the farming communities are often struggling in their efforts to assess animal welfare, especially in tropical regions. Broadly three aspects must be considered to ensure appropriate welfare in goats, and these include (i) housing and environment; (ii) breeding and genetics and (iii) handling and transport. Apart from these, there are a few other negative welfare factors in goat rearing, which differ across the production system being followed. Such negative practices are predominant in extensive systems and include nutritional stress, limited supply of good quality water, climatic extremes, parasitic infestation and lameness, culminating in low production, reproduction and high mortality rates. Broadly two types of methodologies are available to assess welfare in goats in these systems: (i) animal-based measures include behavioral measurements, health and production records and disease symptoms; (ii) resources based and management-based measures include stocking density, manpower, housing conditions and health plans. Goat welfare could be assessed based on several indicators covering behavioral, physical, physiological and productive responses. The important indicators of goat welfare include agonistic behavior, vocalization, skin temperature, body condition score (BCS), hair coat conditions, rectal temperature, respiration rate, heart rate, sweating, reduced growth, reduced milk production and reduced reproductive efficiency. There are also different approaches available by which the welfare of goats could be assessed, such as naturalistic, functional and subjective approaches. Thus, assessing welfare in goats at every production stage is a prerequisite for ensuring appropriate production in this all-important species to guarantee optimum returns to the marginal and subsistence farmers.