6 - Welfare Of Dairy Cattle

Front 1

Production Cycle of Dairy

Back 1

Front 2

Welfare issues in Lactating Cows

Back 2

Disease

-Lameness, mastitis, metabolic disease, body injuries

Housing

Types of housing, bedding material, flooring

Front 3

Welfare issues in Youngstock

Back 3

Disease

-FTP, Respiratory, Gastrointestinal, Painful procedures

Housing

-Types of housing: Individual vs group

Feeding

-Colostrum, milk, methods of feeding, water

Front 4

Cow housing

Back 4

Varies with production stage

Very different from natural conditions

Very difficult to change (cost, labour, etc)

Front 5

Cow housing is an underlying cause for...

Back 5

Several biological and behavioural problems

Front 6

Types of Housing

Back 6

Free-stall: easy to clean, not common in AB

Tie-stall: welfare concern, lots in QC/ON

Loose: large bedded pack, difficult to clean

Front 7

Why would a cow be laying in the alley, instead of her stall?

Back 7

Stall is dirty, too tall to get in, uncomfortable, or she has pain preventing her from stepping up

Front 8

Parts of a free stall

Back 8

Front 9

What is lunge space and why is it important?

Back 9

The area in front of the brisket tube

Space is required to get up and lay down

Front 10

What can happen if there's no lunge space?

Back 10

Cow lays down backwards

*Problem bc she poops along the wall and that is difficult to clean and can lead to infection

Front 11

Consequence of not having the right stall width/length?

Back 11

Stall cleanliness compromised

Increased prevalence of mastitis

Body injuries

Front 12

Types of flooring available

Back 12

Diamond grooved concrete

Textured concrete

Slatted

Rubber

Front 13

Rubber advantages/disadvantages

Back 13

Comfortable and great for welfare!

Wears out quickly and needs to be replaced, and feet must be trimmed more regularly (more $$)

Front 14

Textured concrete advantages/disadvantages

Back 14

Cheap

If it gets dirty, the grooves fill up and then becomes slippery

Front 15

Diamond concrete advantages/disadvantages

Back 15

Great to prevent slipping and easy to clean

Hard on feet

Front 16

Slatted floor advantages/disadvantages

Back 16

Easiest to clean!

Slippery, hard on feet

Front 17

Best flooring

Back 17

Balance between rubber and concrete, so that claws can wear but not excessively

*Cleanliness and dry feet most important

*Scrapers that clean hourly are great

Front 18

Bedding types

Back 18

Inorganic or Organic

Sand, shavings, mats with little shaving, composted manure, water mats

Front 19

Disadvantage of organics

Back 19

Decompose and need to be replaced often

Front 20

Disadvantages of sand

Back 20

Hard on equipment

(super comfy though)

Front 21

Disadvantages of rubber/water mats

Back 21

Fabric can be abrasive and cause lesions/bruising

Front 22

Disadvantages of composted manure

Back 22

Bit dusty, degrades over time, medium for bacterial growth

Front 23

What can happen if the bedding gets wet?

Back 23

Cows get super dirty (missing hair because of dirt clumps)

Dangerous for infections

Wet feet is never good

Front 24

Bedding: what do cows prefer (tested through preference tests and lying time)

Back 24

Clean

Dry

Deep

Front 25

Issue with lameness and body injuries on farm

Back 25

Rarely quantified on commercial farms

Economic impact is not directly apparent

Usually related to engineering issues

Abnormal has become normal

Front 26

Carpal/Tarsal joint lesion scores

Back 26

1: No swelling, no hair missing

2: No swelling, bald area on hock

3: Swelling evident, lesion through hide

*Open lesions are an easy way in for bacteria

Front 27

Neck lesions due to

Back 27

Low neck rail

Feeding barriers

Front 28

Carpal/Tarsal lesions:

Increased on what type of bedding, decreased on what type of bedding?

Back 28

Increased on mattresses

Decreased in deeply bedded stalls

Front 29

Body injuries increase the risk of..

Back 29

Arthritis and lameness

Front 30

Definition of Lameness

Back 30

Abnormal gait, assessed by gait (locomotion) scoring

Front 31

Definition of Hoof Health

Back 31

Free of injury or disease

(*Horses have hooves, cows have feet*)

Front 32

Definition of Hoof Lesion

Back 32

Any abnormality in the hoof/foot caused by metabolic or infectious disease or trauma

Front 33

Why should we be concerned about lameness?

Back 33

Individual case of lameness costs about $400 due to:

-Treatment costs

-Milk production loss

-Reduced reproductive success

-PAINFUL

*Lameness is the dairy industry's most visible welfare problem

Front 34

Feet & Leg problems account for ______% of culling reasons

Back 34

10.91

Front 35

2 other high ranking reasons for culling

Back 35

Reproductive (30.24%)

Mastitis (16.92%)

Front 36

Average % of cows with lameness (locomotion score >3) on Alberta farms

Back 36

20%

*Code of practice: <10% should be lame

Front 37

Why is lameness so hard to control?

Back 37

Multifactorial!

Nutrition, flooring, bedding material, stall base, footbathing, trimming frequency, metabolic disease

Front 38

Why is locomotion scoring not perfect?

Back 38

Producers miss 20% of cases because signs are hard to pick up unless you have a trained eye

Front 39

Factors going into locomotion scoring

Back 39

Limp = reluctance to bear weight

Asymmetric steps = rhythm of foot placement

Head bob, tracking up, joint flexion, back arch, swinging in and out

Front 40

Results of claw lesion study (which lesions were prominent)

Back 40

Digital dermatitis

Sole ulcer

White line lesion

Sole hemorrhage

Toe ulcer

Front 41

Lesions affect...

Back 41

Lameness!

Front 42

Calf Individual housing benefits

Back 42

Contains pathogen spread

Easier to control feed and milk intake

Front 43

Calf group housing benefits

Back 43

Limits disease transmission if well managed in groups of <10 calves

Social interaction

Exercise

*some say those with social interaction and exercise are more immunologically active

Front 44

Inside or outside housing better?

Back 44

Depends on management and weather

Ex. Hutches in winter are great, in summer they are a furnace

Front 45

Calf disbudding techniques and pain managment

Back 45

Caustic paste

Disbudding iron

Lidocaine along cornual nerve

Front 46

Calf main diseases

Back 46

Respiratory and gastrointestinal (3-5% prevalence)

*Not usually recorded so really difficult to work on improving welfare with producers

Front 47

Calf diarrhea

Back 47

Infectious

Several pathogens related to different ages

Non infectious

Osmotic or excessive drinking

*Non infectious usually human error

Front 48

Respiratory disease

Back 48

Infectious, caused by several pathogens

Affected by ventilation (drafts and ammonia)

Front 49

Best way to prevent disease in calves?

Back 49

Colostrum feeding!

Front 50

Passive Transfer of Immunity

Back 50

Transfer of Ig's through colostrum bc they are not transferred through placenta

Front 51

Offering colostrum correctly

Back 51

Good quality - 50mg/ml IgG

Large quantity - 4 L

On time - 6 hours after birth

Front 52

What can we do about FPTI??

Back 52

Control colostrum quality (make it easier to measure for producers)

Freeze good quality colostrum

Front 53

How do we know that PTI is working?

Back 53

Measure IgG levels on serum

Blood sample when calf 2-7 days old

Separate serum

Read on refractometer

*green = success, red = fail

Front 54

Methods of milk feeding calves?

Back 54

Bucket

Nipple

Front 55

Why is bucket feeding bad?

Back 55

*Physiological position related to esophageal groove (method for milk to bypass rumen)

Calf lowers head into bucket and then milk goes into rumen, ferments and then acidified milk goes through GIT and causes diarrhea

Front 56

Nipple Feeding

Back 56

Prevents diarrhea

Stimulates salivation

Increases drinking time

Prevents behavioural problems

Front 57

Ad Libitum vs Conventional feeding calves

Back 57

Conventional (4L/day)

-Stimulates dry feed intake (and rumen growth)

-Calves still hungry

Ad Libitum (Up to 14L/day)

-Closer to natural

-Optimal growth pre-weaning

Front 58

Ad libitum disadvantages

Back 58

Harder to control intake

Intake fluctuations

Weaning is harder on calf (loss of BW)

**Still better! Producer more as cows during first lactation

Front 59

Why would we feed water to calves?

Back 59

Hydration

Temperature control

Increase dry feed intake

Front 60

Study found that water is important to give at...

Back 60

3 weeks of age due to physiological and diet changes

Front 61

Code of Practice: High compliance areas for Alberta farms

Back 61

Time of first colostrum feeding

Amount of colostrum fed

Temperature of milk fed to calves

Weaning management

Bedding management

Front 62

Code of practice: Low compliance areas for Alberta farms

Back 62

Colostrum quality assessment

Quantity of milk offered to calves

Navel disinfection

Age at dehorning

Pain control at dehorning