List of contributors xi
Foreword xiii
1 What is animal welfare? 1
1.1 Characteristics of animal welfare 1
1.2 The Five Freedoms 4
1.3 Beyond the Five Freedoms 5
Bibliography 7
2 How can animal welfare be assessed? 9
2.1 Environment-based and animal-based measures 9
2.1.1 The Welfare Quality® protocols 12
2.2 Performance measures 14
2.3 Health measures 15
2.4 Physiological measures 16
2.5 Behavioural measures 18
Bibliography 21
3 Welfare issues related to feeding 25
3.1 Factors regulating feeding behaviour 25
3.2 Health and welfare problems derived from feeding 27
3.2.1 Chronic hunger and state of negative energy balance 27
3.2.2 Prevention of negative energy balance 27
3.2.3 Obesity 28
3.3 Impact of feeding behaviour on animal welfare and productivity 29
3.4 Feeding behaviour indicators 31
3.5 Sorting behaviour 32
3.6 Recommendations 33
3.6.1 Access to water 33
3.6.2 Access to feed 35
Bibliography 35
4 Welfare issues related to housing 39
4.1 Lying behaviour 39
4.1.1 Importance of lying behaviour 39
4.1.2 Main welfare problems related to housing 43
4.2 Thermal stress 46
4.2.1 Economic impact of heat stress 46
4.2.2 What does thermal stress mean? 46
4.2.3 How does heat stress affect high yield dairy cows? 47
4.2.4 Recommendations to reduce heat stress 48
Bibliography 50
5 Welfare issues related to health 53
5.1 General aspects of health 53
5.1.1 Identification of sick dairy cows 54
5.1.2 Hospital pens 56
5.2 Lameness 57
5.2.1 Lameness is a painful disease 58
5.2.2 Lameness causes production and economic losses 59
5.2.3 How to identify lameness 60
5.2.4 Prevention of lameness 63
5.3 Mastitis 67
5.3.1 Mastitis causes production and economic losses 68
5.3.2 Mastitis is a painful disease 68
5.3.3 Prevention and husbandry recommendations 70
5.4 Painful husbandry practices: dehorning and disbudding 73
5.4.1 Dehorning and disbudding are painful practices 74
5.4.2 Minimizing or managing pain when disbudding 76
Bibliography 78
6 Welfare issues and related to behaviour 83
6.1 Mixing animals and hierarchy 83
6.2 Competition for resources 85
6.3 Fear and the human-animal relationship 87
6.3.1 What is fear? 88
6.3.2 Prevention of fear through good human-cow interactions 89
6.3.3 Assessment of fear towards humans 91
Bibliography 92
7 Welfare at milking 95
7.1 Health problems related to milking 95
7.2 Indicators of stress during milking 97
7.3 Preventing stress during milking through good management routines 99
7.3.1 Moving the cows towards the waiting area 100
7.3.2 In the milking parlour 100
Bibliography 103
8 Welfare at drying-off and during the dry period 105
8.1 Pain and discomfort caused by udder engorgement at drying-off 107
8.1.1 Factors affecting pain and discomfort at drying-off 107
8.1.2 Indicators of pain and discomfort at drying-off 108
8.1.3 Methods of measuring udder engorgement and udder pressure 110
8.2 Increased risk of mastitis 110
8.3 Restricted access to feed and water at drying-off 111
8.4 Aggressive interactions and competition between dry-cows 111
8.5 Recommendations on husbandry and pain management 112
Bibliography 113
9 Welfare during the peripartum period 117
9.1 Calving is a painful and stressful process 117
9.2 Behavioural changes during normal calving 118
9.3 Difficult calving 120
9.3.1 Behavioural changes during difficult calving 122
9.4 Health and productive consequences of calving 124
9.4.1 Consequences for the cow 124
9.4.2 Consequences for the calf 125
9.5 Prevention and management recommendations 125
Bibliography 129
10 Welfare of calves until weaning 131
10.1 Importance of sucking behaviour 131
10.2 Problems related to housing 132
10.3 Problems related to feeding 135
10.3.1 Colostrum 135
10.3.2 Milk 136
10.3.3 Water 136
10.3.4 Starter concentrate and fibre 137
10.4 Problems related to health 138
10.4.1 Diarrhoea 138
10.4.2 Pneumonia 139
10.4.3 Prevention and treatment 140
10.5 Stress at weaning 141
Bibliography 142
Index 147
