Animal welfare assessment based on Welfare Quality® criteria in a dairy farm in Turkey

Abstract

This study served as a pilot to examine the practical implementation of the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle in dairy farms in Turkey. The study was carried out in the large-scale dairy farm of Ataturk University, in a free-stall-housed herd composed of Holstein, Brown Swiss and Simmental cattle. Whether the standards of the farm management programme and some of the welfare criteria chosen from the protocol were met was determined with the scoring method described in the Welfare Quality® publications. The somatic cell count (SCC) of the milk samples, and the avoidance distance and body condition score (BCS) of the animals were also determined and recorded. The body condition scores (BCS) of the Holstein, Simmental and Brown Swiss cattle were determined as 2.56, 3.16 and 3.88, respectively. Only 7% of the 53 cows had lameness, and none of the animals were evaluated as ‘resting a foot, standing on the edge of a step, displaying stepping (weight shifting) or showing reluctance to bear weight’. The animals were also evaluated based on some health indicators. The percentages of animals displaying nasal and ocular discharge were 16% and 9%, respectively. No clinical signs were recorded for hampered respiration, diarrhea or vulvar discharge. The mean SCC of the milk samples was (log 10) 4.43 cells/ml and below the European Union’s raw milk SCC threshold. In conclusion, according to the assessment based on Welfare Quality® criteria, the animal welfare level at the dairy farm of Ataturk University was scored as %70.92 and was considered to meet the relevant EU standards.