Main causes of poor welfare in intensively reared dairy cows

Abstract

The aim of this review is to summarise the main causes of poor welfare in intensively reared dairy cows. Intensive farming systems are considered, both from a structural and a managerial point of view, for their constraints that may limit animal welfare: possible physical activity; acceptable interactions with humans and other animals; feeding and watering, protection from climate, parasites, and diseases. The dairy farms managed according to the organic rules do not always guarantee, per se, better welfare conditions; organic or low input dairy farming needs to consider the right interaction among cattle breed and herd management, focusing on the actual quality of feedstuffs meet face cow requirements. The considered structural aspects evidence how special care must be given to the rest area (straw yard or cubicle); to the floors that should be not too hard or abrasive and not slippery; to the cubicle bedding material to ensure hygiene, softness, and dryness; to the feeding (and watering) area to reduce conflicts; to a microclimate control system, to avoid heat stress during summer time. The importance of proper management for animal welfare is evidenced for buildings and equipment, to have clean and comfortable stables and well functioning milking machines; nutritive and storage quality of feeds; diet suitability (energy, protein, physically efficient fibre, buffers etc.), in the different phases of a dairy cow’s life (dry period, close-up, transition, and lactation); feed distribution (frequency and time), and 24h availability. Special attention has to be paid to the social aspects, regarding both animal competition (stocking density, group size), and human/animal interactions (methods of management and manipulation). The interaction between welfare and health requires special attention. Poor welfare can cause immune depression, thus increasing the risk of disease. In turn, any disease that causes an inflammatory response may determine depression, anorexia, an increase in temperature, and metabolic pathways deviation, with a worsening of the overall sense of well-being

Relationship between quality of facilities, animal-based welfare indicators and measures of reproductive and productive performances on dairy farms in the northwest of Spain

“…Inadequate animal welfare conditions are known to cause chronic stress and numerous health issues in dairy farms (Abeni and Bertoni 2009), but objective and systematic assessment of animal welfare aspects, including comfort ability of facilities, is not routinely done by veterinarians and therefore, insufficient or poor cow comfort may be overlooked.…”

“…Assessment of animal welfare conditions provides an opportunity to address ethical issues and also to improve the productive performance of dairy farms (Abeni and Bertoni 2009), as cow discomfort is known to hinder full development of the productive potential. Various different studies have demonstrated that some facility-related aspects, as well as management practices, may influence animal health, longevity and reproductive and productive performance (Cook and Reinemann 2007;Erina et al 2008).…”

Metabolic load in dairy cows kept in herbage‐based feeding systems and suitability of potential markers for compromised well‐being

“…Animal health contributes importantly to well‐being, and whenever an animal is diseased, its well‐being is compromised (Bertoni et al., ; Barkema et al., ). With regard to dairy cow welfare, the major topics include lameness, mastitis and metabolic disorders (Abeni and Bertoni, ; Barkema et al., ). A high metabolic load coming along with low plasma glucose concentrations and high plasma free fatty acids (FFA) and β ‐hydroxy‐butyric acid (BHBA) concentrations is an obvious risk factor for various diseases (Reist et al., ; Hachenberg et al., ; Graber et al., ) and compromised immune response (Zarrin et al., ).…”

Effects of feeding frequency and environmental conditions on dry matter intake, milk yield and behaviour of dairy cows milked in conventional or automatic milking systems

“…He reported an adverse effect on cows when the value of THI rises over 72. Heat stress in lactating dairy cows reduces DMI, rumen digestion (due to reduced blood flow in the digestive tract), rumen pH and secretion of saliva (Abeni, 2009). Hot weather conditions also modify cow behaviour.…”