A survey of the animal welfare status of dairy cows in Taiwan using the criteria of Farm Animal Welfare Council in United Kingdom
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Chiu, Pin-Hsuan
Abstract
Dairy farming in Taiwan has developed into intensive farming. The herd size of dairy farms has risen rapidly. Also, with the effort of government and farmers, and the improvement of raising skills, the production of milk increases year by year, reaches to 6000 kg per year per cow. Due to the high density of population in Taiwan, there is no enough space for the farmers to pasture their cows. Under the circumstances of limited environment, the increase of stocking density and milk production lead to the concern for animal welfare status of dairy cows in Taiwan. This study is to assess the current status of management, in the viewpoint of animal welfare, and offering our suggestions, using the criteria of Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) in United Kingdom. Totally 80 items of assessment were designed and categorized into three domains, comprising: animal care, health management, housing and loafing area. Totally 53 dairy farms were randomly selected and interviewed for assessment. The mean percentage of compliance score for the assessment was 74.6%. And the compliance score of items in “general health management” was related to the milk production(r=0.36, P<0.01). Additionally, the data of the three domains were presented and discussed in terms of the herd size of farms (40~99 cows, 100~199 cows, 200~299 cows, above 300 cows), and the husbandry system of farms (cubicle system, straw yard, rubber mats, and concrete floor), using T-test to analyze and compare the mean percentage of compliance score, mastitis rate, prevalence of lameness and milk production. The results showed more prevalence of lameness on farms using straw yard than concrete floor. The herd size of farms ranged from 100~199 cows had higher mastitis rate than farms with herd size ranged from 200~299 cows. The farms with herd size ranged from 200~299 cows had the highest mean percentage of compliance score. Higher levels of Milk production were showed on farms feeding more than 4 kg of concentrated dry feeds in any one feed compared to farms feeding 4 kg or less concentrated dry feeds in any one feed. 17 items of total 80 items from the assessment resulted in low percentage of compliance score (under 50%). The least five items were: “Each herd should have a written health and welfare programme produced.”, “Before calving, heifers should be trained to the use of the milking parlour and, where applicable, cubicles.”, “The pain and stress which can be caused by chemical cauterization mean that the method should not be used.”, “In straw yard systems, there should be an area where hoof wear will occur, in order to prevent overgrowth of hooves. Slurry should be scraped from all concrete areas at least twice daily.”, and “Where the cause of a foot lesion is not apparent, advice must be sought from a veterinary surgeon.” The survey results indicated the general problems on animal welfare of dairy cows in Taiwan, which also provided dairy farmers the advice to improve the animal welfare status of dairy cows.
Subjects
dairy cows
animal welfare
management
husbandry system
Type
thesis
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