Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark; Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 8, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Res Vet Sci. 2018 Aug;119:162-166. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2018.06.017. Epub 2018 Jun 19.
Cull dairy cows are transported to slaughter, but may be more vulnerable to transport stress than younger livestock. In order to ensure the welfare of cull cows during transport their fitness for transport must be assessed before transport. Lameness is a common reason for culling dairy cows, and assessing fitness for transport in lame dairy cows is a frequent task for farmers, veterinarians and livestock drivers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the agreement within and between these three groups of professionals in relation to lameness scoring and assessment of fitness for transport. The study used an online questionnaire consisting of 30 video recordings of walking cows. Participants were asked to score lameness for each cow and assess if the cow was fit for transport or not. Weighted and unweighted kappa were used as a measure of interrater agreement within and between groups. The levels of agreement within and between the three professional groups were at best moderate. Farmers agreed less than moderate within their own group as well as compared to veterinarians and livestock drivers when assessing fitness for transport. In general, it raises concern that the level of agreement on fitness for transport was moderate or even lower. These results call for more focus on the assessment of fitness for transport, including research and possibly training of the different professional groups in order to ensure good animal welfare during transport.
淘汰奶牛被运往屠宰场，但它们比年轻的牲畜更容易受到运输压力的影响。为了确保淘汰奶牛在运输过程中的福利，在运输前必须对其运输适应性进行评估。跛行是淘汰奶牛的常见原因，评估跛行奶牛的运输适应性是农民、兽医和牲畜司机的一项常见任务。本研究旨在评估这三个专业群体在跛行评分和运输适应性评估方面的内部和群体间的一致性。该研究使用了一个包含 30 个行走奶牛视频记录的在线问卷。参与者被要求为每头奶牛评分，并评估奶牛是否适合运输。加权和非加权 kappa 用于衡量组内和组间的评分者间一致性。三个专业群体内部和群体间的一致性水平最高为中度。农民在评估运输适应性时，其群体内的一致性低于中度，与兽医和牲畜司机相比也是如此。总体而言，运输适应性的一致性水平适中甚至更低，这令人担忧。这些结果呼吁更加关注运输适应性的评估，包括对不同专业群体的研究和可能的培训，以确保在运输过程中动物福利良好。
