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The major welfare problems of dairy cows in French commercial farms: an epidemiological approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

A de Boyer des Roches ,
I Veissier ,
M Coignard ,
N Bareille ,
R Guatteo ,
J Capdeville ,
E Gilot-Fromont  and
L Mounier
A de Boyer des Roches*
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-69280 Marcy L’Etoile, France INRA, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France
I Veissier
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-69280 Marcy L’Etoile, France INRA, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France
M Coignard
Affiliation:
LUNAM, ONIRIS, INRA, UMR1300 BIOEPAR, CS 40706, F-44307 Nantes, France
N Bareille
Affiliation:
LUNAM, ONIRIS, INRA, UMR1300 BIOEPAR, CS 40706, F-44307 Nantes, France
R Guatteo
Affiliation:
LUNAM, ONIRIS, INRA, UMR1300 BIOEPAR, CS 40706, F-44307 Nantes, France
J Capdeville
Affiliation:
Institut de l’Elevage, Antenne de Toulouse, Castanet Tolosan, F-31321 Castanet Tolosan Cedex, France
E Gilot-Fromont
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon,VetAgro Sup, F-69280 Marcy L’Etoile, France Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, UMR CNRS 5558 - LBBE, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
L Mounier
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon, VetAgro Sup, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-69280 Marcy L’Etoile, France INRA, UMR1213 Herbivores, F-63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France
*
* Contact for correspondence and request for reprints: alice.deboyerdesroches@vetagro-sup.fr
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Abstract

Animal welfare enhancement requires that problems are reliably identified and ranked in order to prioritise corrective actions. Welfare problems vary with the conditions in which animals are maintained. The objectives were to highlight major welfare problems for dairy cows on farms in France, and find out how farm characteristics (housing and milking systems, breed) could impact specific welfare aspects on these farms. We conducted a cross-sectional survey on 131 French dairy farms. We used the Welfare Quality® protocol, which addresses all aspects of welfare, and yields scores for principles and criteria that represent how well farms meet welfare requirements (from 0 for a very adverse situation to 100 for an excellent one). We used descriptive statistics to highlight low welfare scores, and variance analyses to compare farms. Most farms were found ‘Acceptable’ according to the Welfare Quality® classification. Principles scores for Health, Feeding and Behaviour ranged from 33 to 39. The median score for eight of the welfare criteria was below 50 (‘Pain’, ‘Integument alterations’, ‘Diseases’, ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Social behaviours’, ‘Human-animal relationship’, ‘Positive emotional state’, ‘Hunger’), while the median score was above 50 for the four other criteria (‘Thirst’, ‘Lameness’, ‘Expression of other behaviours’, ‘Ease of movement’). The scores varied widely between farms, within and between systems. Farms with cubicles obtained lower scores for ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Injuries’; farms with Holstein cows obtained lower scores for ‘Hunger’; farms using an automatic milking system obtained lower scores for ‘Expression of other behaviours’ and ‘Diseases’ in Holstein herds. This survey yields information on bottlenecks in dairy cow welfare with all dimensions of welfare considered together. The results can be used by stakeholders to prioritise corrective actions in welfare plans, focusing either on the whole population of farms or on farms with characteristics that are at high risk for specific welfare problems.

Keywords

animal welfaredairy cowsfarm characteristicsrisks factorswelfare criteriawelfare plan
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , November 2014 , pp. 467 - 478
Copyright
© 2014 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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