Welfare assessment in intensive and semi‐intensive dairy cattle management system in Sicily

Abstract

The present study aimed to compare the welfare of dairy cows kept in two traditional husbandry systems (semi‐intensive and intensive farming) in south‐eastern Sicily. A total of 18 dairy farms (nine semi‐intensive and nine intensive) were evaluated with a multicriteria system adapted for Sicilian conditions and obtained simplifying the model of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Values of welfare measures, collected by inspections of the farms (general well‐being indicators, ventilation system, resting areas [cubicles or bedding], flooring, milking parlours and waiting area, manger and watering equipment), and those of health categories (cases of abortions, hypocalcemia, displacement of abomasum, acidosis/ketosis, enteritis, hoof problems, and mastitis) obtained through the farm records, were compared using Mann–Whitney and Chi‐squared tests, respectively. Data showed significant differences (p ≤ .05) about the variables related to welfare categories such as housing ventilation system, resting area, manger, and water equipment that were better in the semi‐intensive system than the intensive system. No significant differences were observed about the variables related to health indicators. The results demonstrated that in Sicily the semi‐intensive farm is better than the intensive to satisfy the conditions of animal welfare.

Production and Health Management from Grazing to Confinement Systems of Largest Dairy Bovine Farms in Azores: A Farmers’ Perspective

“…Intensive or semi-intensive production systems were defined according to the time that the cows stayed indoors (confined), with availability of a milking parlor or fixed fixed milking parlors (FMP), or outdoors (grazing) using mobile milking systems (MMS), respectively, during the whole or greater part of the day. Cows from semi-intensive production systems grazed for at least 8 h per day [ 29 ]. All the farms used cattle with a genetic merit for milk-yield production.…”

Welfare of dairy cows

“…At national level, the proportion of dairy cows grazing in Italy has been estimated at 10-30%, buth without defining grazing hours per day or grazing days per year (van den Pol-van Dasselaar et al, 2020). Moreover, Peli et al (2016) and Pugliese et al (2021) point to regional differences, with higher proportions of farms offering pasture in central Italy. In the region of Sicily, the traditional semiintensive system is characterised by access to pasture grazing for the provision of forage, for a minimum of 6 hours during day times from April to October.…”

“…No official national statistics or reports could be accessed on dairy cow husbandry in Italy. However, scientific literature illustrates that farm structure, housing systems, and the extent of access to pasture for dairy cows differ considerably between regions in Italy (Benvenuti et al., 2018 ; Lora et al., 2020 ; Peli et al., 2016 ; Pugliese et al., 2021 ; Tarantola et al., 2016 ).…”

Analyses of Operational and Economic Conditions in Selected Dairy Farms

“…E.g. research results according to (Pugliese et al, 2021) demonstrated that in Sicily, the semi-intensive farm is better than the intensive one to satisfy the conditions of animal welfare. The article (Dorottya Ivanyos et al, 2020) surveys the milking technology and the relationship between the milking technology, the herd size, and the milk production parameters on the Hungarian commercial dairy farm.…”