The effect of herd size on dairy cows' welfare quality - provision of good feeding and housing

Abstract

In the last decades, there has been a trend present in the world to increase the size of dairy herds while increasing the yield of milk per head. In addition to environmental and economic benefits, this trend carries certain risks for the welfare of cows because in conditions of increased agglomeration of cattle the possibility of spreading of pathogens is also increased, there are less opportunities for adequate control and cows are exposed to greater selection and production stress. Research of the relationship between herd size and welfare quality parameters is still not sufficient to make relevant conclusions. Starting from that, the aim of this study, conducted in Serbia, is to examine the influence of herd size on parameters related to providing good feeding and housing conditions as important segments of the overall welfare of dairy cows. The assessment of given welfare parameters was done by Welfare Quality? Assessment Protocol for Cattle (2009) on 16 dairy farms of different herd sizes (large, medium and small) and housing management. The results indicate that there are significant variations in welfare indicators in each of the observed groups, which is why the size of the herd cannot be taken as a parameter that explicitly determines the quality of welfare. However, individual observation and comparison of welfare parameters between groups indicate that small herds in our production conditions could be identified as the greatest risks to the welfare of cows. In small herds, the highest share of cows of poor (4.62%) and fattened condition (8.76%) was found, as well as the lowest freedom of movement because cows on small farms are mostly reared in a tied system. Average values of indicators: lying down time (6.24s), frequency of collisions with equipment (13.25%) and high dirt contamination of cows (65.6-89.8%) further emphasize the issue of providing comfort in small herds.