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Stella Huertas presents Poster 45 during the poster sessions in the Aula.
Session theme 5: Development and improvement of welfare assessment protocols
117
Poster 45
EVALUATION OF SOME WELFARE ISSUES IN DAIRY CATTLE IN FREE
GRAZING CONDITIONS
S. Huertas 1 , E. De Torres 1 , X. Manteca 4 , D. César 1,2 , J. Piaggio 1,3 , A. Gil 1,3
1 Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
2 Instituto Plan Agropecuario, Uruguay
3 Unidad de Epidemiología, Ministerio de Ganadería, Agricultura y Pesca, Uruguay
4 Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, España
Uruguay has 730 thousand dairy cattle in free grazing conditions and in 2007 exported milk was
worth 250 millions dollars. Dairy production has increased substantially causing different types of
diseases that compromise animal welfare.
The objective of this study was to assess the welfare of dairy cattle through trained observers using
animal based parameters (WQ® Project). We visited 35 farms located in the dairy zone of the
country looking for the presence of integument alterations, lameness, cleanliness, body condition
score (BCS), nasal/ocular discharge, increased respiratory rate and diarrhoea. The sample size of
studied cows was done according to WQ® protocols.
From a total of 1770 cows leaving the milking parlour, 6, 8% (120) were lame and 8, 3% (10) of
them were severely lame. In 9 of 26 visited farms (35%) cows slipped either entering or leaving the
milking parlour. According to BCS and to make observation easier, a BCS of 3 (tailhead, hip bones,
spine and ribs a little prominent) was the cut off point. Cows with a BCS equal to or below 3
(unacceptably thin) accounted for 30, 8% (544) of the total.
From a total of 29 farms, 3 (10, 3%) had animals with ocular discharge and 4 (13, 8%) animals with
nasal discharge. One third of the farms had animals with diarrhea, but no increased respiratory rate
or integument alterations were observed.
Looking at leg cleanliness inside the milking parlour, 297 of 1258 cows (23.6%) were acceptable
(no dirt), 961 (76.4%) presented some dirt and 255 (26.5%) of these were severely dirty.
In conclusion, indicators such as lameness, BCS, cleanliness and sanitary aspects -never taken into
account before in the country- were identified as critical points. They were relatively easy to
measure and assess, and should be improved in order to develop better conditions in Uruguayan
dairy cows.
Contact information: Stella Huertas or email stellamaris32@adinet.com.uy
Complete address: Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, 21 De Setiembre, 3065
APTO 701, Montevideo, Uruguay
Species: Dairy cattle