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Linstädt J, Thöne-Reineke C, Merle R. Animal-based welfare indicators for dairy cows and their validity and practicality: a systematic review of the existing literature. Front Vet Sci 2024; 11:1429097. [PMID: 39055860 PMCID: PMC11271709 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1429097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Animal welfare is of increasing importance, with consumers preferring animal products made with ethical practices due to growing awareness. This shift highlights the need for reliable methods to evaluate welfare. This systematic review aims to assess the validity of current animal-based welfare indicators for dairy cows to aid farmers and agricultural professionals in evaluating and improving welfare amidst the lack of a clear legislative definition. The literature search spanned five databases: CAB Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Livivo, covering publications in English and German from 2011 to 2021. Specific search terms were employed, and abstracts were screened for relevance. Publications were categorized based on exclusion criteria, with a final verification process conducted by three independent scientists. Research highlights correlations between welfare measures, farm characteristics and innovative indicators like hair cortisol concentration. Farming systems and housing methods significantly affect welfare, with pasture-based systems generally resulting in reduced lameness and improved behavior. Proper housing design and management practices are important, as they influence indicators like lameness and cleanliness. Heart rate variability and heart rate monitoring provide insights into dairy cow stress levels during milking and other stressors, making them valuable for welfare assessment. Biomarker research emphasizes the need to balance productivity and health in breeding strategies, as high milk production alone does not indicate good welfare. Behavioral studies and the human-animal relationship are key to understanding welfare. Precision Livestock Farming offers real-time assessment capabilities, although validation is needed. Stress physiology is complex, and while cortisol measurement methods are promising, further research is necessary. Assessment tools like the Animal Needs Index and routine herd data analysis are valuable for identifying welfare concerns. Key findings highlight the WQ® protocol's effectiveness and versatility, the challenge of its time demands, and the DCF protocol's promise for more practical and efficient welfare assessments. Commercial animal welfare audits should prioritize easily observable indicators and herd records due to logistical constraints in measuring biomarkers or heart rate variability. This focus on easily accessible indicators, such as body condition score, lameness, claw health, cleanliness, and somatic cell count allows effective welfare assessments, enabling prompt action to enhance wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny Linstädt
- Institute of Animal Welfare, Animal Behavior and Laboratory Animal Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christa Thöne-Reineke
- Institute of Animal Welfare, Animal Behavior and Laboratory Animal Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Roswitha Merle
- Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Marques TC, Lage CFA, Bruno DR, Fausak ED, Endres MI, Ferreira FC, Lima FS. Geographical trends for automatic milking systems research in non-pasture-based dairy farms: A scoping review. J Dairy Sci 2023; 106:7725-7736. [PMID: 37641343 DOI: 10.3168/jds.2023-23313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Automatic milking system (AMS) adoption in the United States is trending upward, with issues such as lower availability and increased cost of labor being factors frequently listed as motives for AMS implementation. In addition, more interest in precision dairy farming by the new generation of farmers may also help increase AMS adoption. The objective of this scoping review was to characterize the nature of the literature investigating non-pasture-based AMS and the opportunities and challenges for future research. The eligibility criteria included studies published in or after the year 2000, with full text in English, of at least 500 words, examining various outcomes related to AMS in non-pasture-based dairy farms. Six electronic databases were searched: Biosis (Web of Science), CAB Abstracts (CAB Direct), Medline (PubMed), PubAg, AGRIS (FAO), and Scopus (Elsevier). The review focused on studies with objectives, characteristics, farms, and AMS information. A total of 4,292 titles and abstracts were screened, and 536 studies were finally included. Most of the studies were conducted in Europe (73.5%), among commercial herds (67.9%), comprising Holstein cows (57.7%), using Lely and DeLaval brands (45.4% vs. 39.7%), with free-flow traffic (52.7%). The main research topics investigated were milk production, milk composition, and AMS efficiency, followed by behavior and welfare, health disorders (especially mastitis), and nutrition in Europe and other regions. At the same time, in the United States, trends were similar, except for nutrition. Since 2016, there has been an increased interest in studies on energy and water consumption, technological development, environment (enteric emissions), reproduction, genetics, and longevity or culling. However, the small number of studies and unclear characterization of what is optimum for reproductive management, other health disorders, economics, and water and energy consumption suggest a need for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- T C Marques
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
| | - C F A Lage
- Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Bath, NY 14810
| | - D R Bruno
- Cooperative Extension, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Fresno, CA 93701
| | - E D Fausak
- Carlson Health Sciences Library, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
| | - M I Endres
- Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108
| | - F C Ferreira
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
| | - F S Lima
- Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
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Entrena-Barbero E, Rebolledo-Leiva R, Vásquez-Ibarra L, Fernández M, Feijoo G, González-García S, Moreira MT. Water-Energy-Food nexus index proposal as a sustainability criterion on dairy farms. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 874:162507. [PMID: 36871744 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Cow milk is a fundamental nutrients source for the human diet at all stages of life. However, the decline in cow milk consumption over the years has been driven by increased consumer awareness of animal welfare and the environmental burdens associated. In this regard, different initiatives have emerged to mitigate the impacts of livestock farming, but many of them without addressing the multi-perspective view of environmental sustainability. Thus, the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus emerges as a framework to consider the complex synergies among carbon emissions, water demand, energy requirements and food production. In this study, a novel and harmonised WEF nexus approach has been proposed and applied to evaluate a set of 100 dairy farms. For that, the assessment, normalisation, and weighting of three lifecycle indicators such as carbon, water and energy footprints, as well as the milk yield were carried out to obtain a single value, the WEF nexus index (WEFni), which varies from 0 to 100. Results show that the WEF nexus scores obtained vary from 31 to 90, demonstrating large differences among the farms assessed. A cluster ranking was performed to identify those farms with the worst WEF nexus indexes. For this group, consisting of 8 farms with an average WEFni of 39, three improvement actions focused on the feeding, digestive process and wellbeing of the cows were applied to determine the potential reduction in the two main hotspots identified: cow feeding and milk production level. The proposed methodology can establish a roadmap for promoting a more environmentally sustainable food industry, although further studies are still required in the pathway of a standardised WEFni.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Entrena-Barbero
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Ricardo Rebolledo-Leiva
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Leonardo Vásquez-Ibarra
- Doctoral Program in Engineering Systems, Faculty of Engineering, Campus Curicó, Universidad de Talca, Camino a Los Niches, km 1, Curicó, Chile.
| | - Mario Fernández
- Galician Association of Agri-food Cooperatives, 15703 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Gumersindo Feijoo
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - Sara González-García
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
| | - María Teresa Moreira
- CRETUS, Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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Medeiros I, Fernandez-Novo A, Astiz S, Simões J. Historical Evolution of Cattle Management and Herd Health of Dairy Farms in OECD Countries. Vet Sci 2022; 9:vetsci9030125. [PMID: 35324853 PMCID: PMC8954633 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci9030125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
This work aimed to review the important aspects of the dairy industry evolution at herd level, interrelating production with health management systems. Since the beginning of the industrialization of the dairy cattle sector (1950s), driven by the need to feed the rapidly growing urban areas, this industry has experienced several improvements, evolving in management and technology. These changes have been felt above all in the terms of milking, rearing, nutrition, reproductive management, and design of facilities. Shortage of labor, emphasis on increasing farm efficiency, and quality of life of the farmers were the driving factors for these changes. To achieve it, in many areas of the world, pasture production has been abandoned, moving to indoor production, which allows for greater nutritional and reproductive control of the animals. To keep pace with this paradigm in milk production, animal health management has also been improved. Prevention and biosecurity have become essential to control and prevent pathologies that cause great economic losses. As such, veterinary herd health management programs were created, allowing the management of health of the herd as a whole, through the common work of veterinarians and farmers. These programs address the farms holistically, from breeding to nutrition, from prevention to consultancy. In addition, farmers are now faced with a consumer more concerned on animal production, valuing certified products that respect animal health and welfare, as well as environmental sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivo Medeiros
- Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Department of Veterinary Sciences, School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal;
| | - Aitor Fernandez-Novo
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Universidad Europea de Madrid, C/Tajo s/n, Villaviciosa De Odón, 28670 Madrid, Spain;
| | - Susana Astiz
- Animal Reproduction Department, National Institute of Agronomic Research (INIA), Puerta De Hierro Avenue s/n, CP, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
| | - João Simões
- Veterinary and Animal Research Centre (CECAV), Department of Veterinary Sciences, School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +351-259-350-666
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Does Experience Make Hucul Horses More Resistant to Stress? A Pilot Study. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11123345. [PMID: 34944127 PMCID: PMC8697891 DOI: 10.3390/ani11123345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 11/20/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the study was to determine whether experience related to horse age and number of starts in championships influences stress level, measured by salivary cortisol concentration. The study involved 18 clinically healthy Hucul mares who participated in the Polish Championships for Hucul Horses. Evaluation of performance value was carried out in accordance with the guidelines specified in the breeding and genetic resources conservation program for this breed. The championship lasted two days, consisting of conformation evaluation, endurance, and Hucul path. Saliva was collected at baseline (T1), after arena assessment (T2), after endurance (T3), and on the second day after the Hucul path (T4). Cortisol levels increased from an average of 2.73 ± 1.18 ng/mL (T1) to 10.46 ± 8.03 ng/mL after T3. Significantly lower levels of free cortisol were detected in the saliva of the younger mares, up to 9 years old, and mares who participated in only one qualifying path after each element of the championship. The highest levels of cortisol (T3) were found in mares competing repeatedly on the qualifying path. No correlation was found between cortisol levels and the championship results. Participation of mares in the championship was associated with stress, which was reflected in the increase in cortisol levels in saliva.
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