Survey on housing, management and welfare of dairy cattle in tie-stalls in western Italian Alps

Abstract

In the Alps, the traditional breeding system for dairyc attle is based on the alternation between af ree-ranging period on mountain ranges during the summer, and an indoor period in tie-stalls in the winter. Severalwelfare issues mayarise in tiestall housing systems.W ed escribe the situation in 47 farmsi nt hree villages in westernI taly,t rying to identify possible relationships among structural and management characteristics, animal health and behaviour traits. Along duration of the grazing period, associated with frequent manure removal during the housing period, are probably key factorsf or limiting the occurrence of lameness. Te at trauma is more common in narrower stalls.G etting-up behaviour is unnatural in most of the visited farms. Some lack in the farmers' knowledge of animal behaviour was noted. Some structural and management characteristics are strictly related to geographical constraints. However, circumstances permitting,some expedients may be achieved for improving welfare levels.

Multi-dimensional assessment and scoring system for dairy farms

“…The average percentage of lame cows was only 10.5%, which is very close to the threshold (10%) suggested by EFSA (2009) and considerably lower than the percentage of about 50% observed in Italian mountain dairy farms by Battini et al (2010) using the same scoring system. This is a good result, if we consider that cows were of Holstein genetic background (that seems to be one of the more susceptible breeds to this problem; Mattiello et al 2011) and that they never had access to pasture (which is known to have a positive effect on the reduction of the incidence of lameness; Bielfeldt et al 2005;Mattiello et al 2005;Battini et al 2010). Due to the low incidence of lameness, the benchmark values for this variable were set at very high standards (e.g.…”

Transhumance of dairy cows to highland summer pastures interacts with breed to influence body condition, milk yield and quality

“…Studies on the sustainability of summer farms have addressed the effects of abandonment or intensity of grazing on the biodiversity of grasslands (Parolo et al 2011), the potential mitigating effect of summer grazing on the environmental impact of farming (Penati et al 2011;Guerci et al 2014), the effects of moving to summer pastures on animal health and welfare (Mattiello et al 2005;Corazzin et al 2010;Comin et al 2011), and the influence of pasture on the sensorial and nutraceutical properties of milk (Martin et al 2005;Gorlier et al 2012). The effects of transhumance to summer farms on the nutritional status of animals and their milk production and quality are important issues, given that the milk is often processed into high-value products, yet so far they have been addressed in few experiments (Bovolenta et al 1998(Bovolenta et al , 2009Leiber et al 2006;Romanzin et al 2013;Farruggia et al 2014).…”

Effects of abrupt housing changes on the welfare of Piedmontese cows

“…In Italy, ''Piedmontese'' cows are traditionally bred in a tie-stall housing system and less frequently in loose housing systems; these systems frequently adopt stalls, and this represents a critical husbandry situation from a welfare point of view, due to the extreme restriction of movement and because the normal behavioural repertoire of the cows is limited (Mattiello et al 2005;Higashiyama et al 2006;Popescu et al 2013). Veissier et al (2008) recommend that cows housed in tiesheds should be given regular access to an exercise area.…”