Welfare status of dairy cows reared from large scale dairy farms in Midlands Province -Zimbabwe.

Abstract

In Zimbabwe a lot of studies have been done on nutrition, breeding, physiology and health of farm cows but with little or no consideration of the impacts of these studies on cow welfare. As a result political importance and practical progression of cow welfare is still lagging behind in the country just like most developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the welfare status of dairy cows from large scale dairy farms through an assessment of risk factors/drivers and indicators of cow welfare. For this study 728 dairy cows from all the 31 large scale dairy farms in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, were selected for the study noting down risk factors and indicators of dairy cow welfare during both the dry and rainy season. Human avoidance distance test results revealed that 81% of the cows were touched by the approaching stockpeople, whereas 19% could not be touched, and this was significantly associated with breed of the cow (χ² = 115, DF = 9, P < 0.0005). From the study 95% of the cows examined were not lame (score 1) and for those that were lame only 0.6% (n = 4) had severely impaired mobility (score 5). Whereas 30% of the cows observed during the rainy season were heavily soiled with manure (score 4), only 1% of the cows observed during the dry season were heavily soiled (score 4). Cow cleanliness was significantly associated with manure accumulation in housing and handling facilities in both study 1 (χ² = 18, DF = 6, P = 0.006) and study 2 (χ² = 47, DF = 6, P < 0.001). The average body condition score of observed dairy cows from both study 1 and study 2 was fair (BC = 3) and body condition was signficantly associated with the breed of cow in both study 1 (χ² = 22, DF = 12, P = 0.039), and study 2 (χ² = 38, DF = 12, P < 0.005). Exotic breeds like the Holstein generally faired low when compared to locally adapted breeds like theAyrshire.