Defining Welfare Concepts Flashcards
The concept of animal welfare has three elements. Briefly describe the three elements.
The concept of animal welfare includes three elements:the animal’s normal biological functioning(which, among other things, means ensuring that the animal is healthy and well-nourished),its emotional state(including the absence of negative emotions, such as pain and chronic fear), andits ability to express certain normal behaviours(Fraser et al., 1997). This notwithstanding, not all behaviours are equally important in terms of animal welfare. From a practical standpoint, the clearest indication that a given behaviour is important is whether the animal shows a stress response or exhibits abnormal behaviour when prevented from performing it. A sow’s prepartum nesting behaviour or the foraging behaviour of pigs are examples of such important behaviours. These three principles do not necessarily contradict one another; indeed, they are often complementary (Mendl, 200
Welfare of dairy cows during the peripartum period
A normal calving (eutocia) poses a risk for both the mother and the newborn calf. This risk is greater in the case of a difficult calving (dystocia).
Management during the peripartum period can be critical to the mother’s health, and the effects of good management can last into the next lactation period.
Likewise, perinatal mortality accounts for half of all deaths in calves before weaning. Thus, the peripartum period involves both welfare issues and potential economic loss, both of which can be mitigated by improving management.
5 management recommendations for improving welfare of dairy cows during the peripartum period.
Minimise situations liable to cause chronic stress, such as competition for food, water or a place to lie down. Ideally, prepartum pens should include a resting area equivalent to 11m2/cow and a feeding area big enough for all cows to feed at the same time (minimum of 0.76 m of feeder/cow). Additionally, each pen should have at least two water points.
The cow should be monitored once an hour from the onset of the first stage of calving. Intervention is only necessary if any stage of the calving process is excessively protracted and/or if atypical behaviour, or normal behaviour with abnormal frequencies, is observed.
Individual calving stalls should be arranged so that the cows within can make eye contact with other cows. This enables efficient monitoring of the calving, as well as proper expression of maternal behaviours in post-parturient dams. Individual stalls should have a surface area of at least 12m2, be fitted with straw bedding or sand, and be hygienic.
Group calving pens should never hold more than 30 cows each and should be designed to allow cows in labour to be separated without having to be removed from the pen.
Dams should be allowed to lick and ingest the amniotic fluid on the calf. Not only does this behaviour increase the calf’s vigour, it also helps to reduce the pain caused by the calving in the dam since the amniotic fluid contains certain compounds that enhance the analgesic action of endogenous opioids.
consequences of poor welfare of dairy cows during the peripartum period on the overall health and production.
Reproductive problems occur frequently in lactating dairy cows and can dramatically affect reproductive efficiency in a dairy herd. Poor reproductive performance is a major cause of involuntary culling and therefore reduces the opportunity for voluntary culling and has a negative influence on the subsequent productivity of a dairy herd.
The pain and stress caused by calving are important not only because of their negative impact on welfare, but also because they can have significant consequences for the entire birth process, as they inhibit the release of oxytocin, and can therefore decrease myometrial contractions and delay the secretion of colostrum.
in poor or chronically stressful conditions are more susceptible to disease, which usually reduces the quality of their end products. As well as a reduction in production, cattle in poor welfare states can be more susceptible to zoonotic diseases, such as tuberculosis, which can be transmitted in milk to humans.
Dystocia
The pelvic area available at birth is affected by the size of pelvis but also by fatness of the dam which might partially obstruct the birth canal. The calf ’s physical factors contri- buting to a size mismatch between the calf and the dam may include a calf of a big size or malpresentation. These morphological factors are themselves dependent upon different variables including the age, breed and parity of the dam, twinning, the sex and weight of the calf, the sire and breed of the calf as well as the nu- trition of the dam during gestation. Therefore the Monotering of the dams weight and the choice of sire and breed can impact welfare and production
It has been shown that calving difficulty reduces milk yield in the cow. It is not clear however, how long the adverse effect on milk production lasts for. In fact, although some authors seem to find a deleterious effect on the overall lactation of cows
Genetics and stress factors are important in preventing problems during birth
Heat stress, production stress, and other unfavorable conditions including seasonal effect and season changes, especially summer are the most important non-genetic factors contributing to abortion
One of the best management practices to reduce stillbirth parturition may be utilizing sire and daughter calving ease information when selecting sires to breed heifers. Herd ma- nagers should review calving procedures with their veterinarian to assure that proper timing and calving assistance techniques are used when providing assis- tance during parturition. In addition, providing a good environment for heifers and cows to minimize stress before parturition can reduce stillbirth incidence
Diseases mainly affect dairy cow productivity in three ways: 1) by reducing reproductive efficiency, 2) by shortening the expected length of productive life (i.e., by increasing culling risk), and 3) by lowering milk yield
