Abstract
Knowing synergies and trade-offs between factors influencing different aspects of dairy cattle
welfare is essential for farmers who aim to improve the level of welfare in their herds. The
aim of this research was to identify and compare housing and management factors associated
with the prevalence of lameness, lesions or swellings, dirty hindquarters, and the frequency
of displacements in dairy herds in free-stall housing. Seven trained observers collected data
regarding housing and management characteristics of 179 Dutch dairy herds (herd size: 22 to
211 cows) in free-stall housing during winter. Lame cows, cows with lesions or swellings, and
cows with dirty hindquarters were counted and occurrence of displacements was recorded
during 120 min of observation. For each of the four welfare indicators, housing and management
factors associated with the welfare indicator were selected in a succession of logistic or log
linear regression analyses. Prevalence of lameness was associated with surface of the lying area,
summer pasturing, herd biosecurity status, and dry cow groups (P
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level |
Editors | L. Mounier, I. Veissier |
Place of Publication | Wageningen |
Publisher | Wageningen Academic Publishers |
Pages | 60-60 |
Number of pages | 1 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9789086867981 |
ISBN (Print) | 9789086862474 |
Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Event | WAFL2014 6th International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare - Clermont Ferrand, France Duration: 3 Sept 2014 → 5 Sept 2014 |
Conference/symposium
Conference/symposium | WAFL2014 6th International Conference on the Assessment of Animal Welfare |
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Country/Territory | France |
City | Clermont Ferrand |
Period | 3/09/14 → 5/09/14 |