C. Medrano-Galarza, A. Zúñiga-López, Fredy García-Castro
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引用次数: 2
Abstract
Objective. The aim of this study was to determine an overall on-farm animal welfare score (WS) for dairy farms using a protocol involving animal- and management/resource-based variables; and to identify the variables that contributed the most to the variance for the WS. Materials and methods. Twenty-five pasture-based dairy farms in Savanna of Bogota - Colombian high tropic, were visited twice. During each visit, a total of 15 animal- and 13 management/resource-based variables were evaluated. For each variable, a herd-level negative cut-off point was established to determine compliance. Based on compliance, a WS was determined (from 0 to 100) and farms were classified as 'excellent', 'enhanced', 'acceptable', or 'non-acceptable'. A linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between variables at the herd-level with the WS. Results. Overall, median WS was 82 (min=67; max=97). Two farms were classified as 'excellent' (WS=94.5), 20 as 'enhanced' (WS=82.5), and 3 as 'acceptable' (WS=68). Among all variables, the noncompliance regarding subclinical mastitis, hind-legs and udder dirtiness score, ventral line wounds, Haematobia irritans fly counts, and condition/cleanliness of pre-milking holding area was significantly associated with a 5.6, 3.6, 6.7, 5.1, 6.5, and 6.1 points reduction in the WS, respectively (R2=0.84). Conclusions. Welfare level found across farms was good and encouraging. Nonetheless, six variables were identified as the main contributors to an unfavorable result. Strategies for improvement could focus on these variables to be able to reach a welfare level of ‘excellence’.
期刊介绍:
The Journal MVZ Córdoba is an open access international scientific journal financed and edited by the University of Córdoba (Colombia). The journal publishes quarterly, continuously in PDF, XML, Epub, original articles, literature reviews, brief communications and clinical cases, peer-reviewed (double-blind) in Spanish and English, which are related to the agricultural and veterinary sciences. The journal is directed to natural and legal persons of veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, public health, epidemiology, aquaculture, biology, basic biomedical sciences and biotechnology and constitutes a space for academic and scientific discussion around the work of professionals in Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics. Four-monthly publication.
"The Journal MVZ Córdoba supports the policies for registration of clinical trials of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), since it recognizes the importance of these initiatives for international registration and dissemination. of information about clinical studies, in open access. As a result, since 2007, the journal MVZ Córdoba only publishes clinical research articles that have received an identification number in one of the Clinical Trial Registries validated by the criteria established by WHO and ICMJE, whose addresses are available in the ICMJE website. The identification number is recorded at the end of the summary. "