General principles and good animal welfare practices on dairy cattle farms

Abstract

Field experiences and scientific observations point out the need to define a guide which would describe widely applicable general principles and good practices for ensuring the welfare of dairy cattle. The key action areas in the guide should be stockmanship, feed and water, living environment, husbandry practices and health management. There is a set of principles in each of these key action areas that should be used to further define the good practice of ensuring dairy cattle welfare in farms. The most important issue for the implementation of good welfare practices for dairy cows is stockmanship. Appropriate nutrition is a basic requirement and it is considered to have a great role to ensure good dairy cattle welfare. Environment, space, equipment, microclimatic and hygienic conditions significantly influence the welfare of dairy cattle. Dairy cattle should be treated with care and in a consistent manner, taking into account their natural behaviour all the time, and in any case minimizing the risk of injury and distress. For the welfare of dairy cattle of particular importance are many health conditions as: lameness, mastitis, injuries, acidosis, milk fever and other metabolic diseases, diarrhoea and anaemia of calves, respiratory diseases, heat stress, arthritis and many contagious diseases. It is necessary to introduce systematic training of stockpersons in our country with special attention to stockmanship and responsibility, feed and water, living environment, husbandry practices and health management in order to achieve a stable system of ensuring good dairy cattle welfare.