Sapkota Sujan, Laven Richard, Müller Kristina, Kells Nikki
School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Oct 19;10(10):1918. doi: 10.3390/ani10101918.
Despite being a leading producer and exporter of dairy products, New Zealand has no industry-recognised welfare assessment protocol. A New Zealand-specific protocol is essential, as almost all dairy farms in New Zealand are pasture-based and housing is rarely used. Therefore, protocols developed for intensive cows are not suitable. The aim of this study was to develop a simple yet practical welfare assessment protocol that could be used to assess the welfare of a dairy herd during one visit timed to occur around milking. Six welfare assessment protocols and four studies of dairy cattle welfare assessments that had some focus on dairy cattle welfare at pasture were used, along with the New Zealand Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare, to identify potential assessments for inclusion in the protocol. Eighty-four potential assessments (20 record-based and 64 that needed assessing on-farm) were identified by this process of welfare assessments. After screening to exclude on-farm assessments that were not relevant, that had only limited practical application in pasture-based dairy cows or that required more time than available, 28 on-farm assessments remained, which were put together with the 20 record-based assessments and were tested for feasibility, practicality and time on two pasture-based dairy farms. Assessments were then identified as suitable, suitable after modification or not feasible. Suitable and modified assessments were then included in the final protocol alongside additional measures specific to New Zealand dairy farms. The final protocol included 24 on-farm assessments and eight record-based assessments. Further testing of these 32 assessments is needed on more dairy farms across New Zealand before the protocol can be used to routinely assess the welfare of dairy cows in New Zealand.
尽管新西兰是乳制品的主要生产国和出口国，但该国没有行业认可的福利评估方案。制定一个针对新西兰的方案至关重要，因为新西兰几乎所有奶牛场都以牧场养殖为主，很少使用畜舍。因此，为集约化养殖奶牛制定的方案并不适用。本研究的目的是制定一个简单而实用的福利评估方案，可用于在挤奶前后的一次走访中评估奶牛群的福利。研究使用了六个福利评估方案以及四项对奶牛福利评估的研究（其中一些侧重于牧场奶牛福利），并结合《新西兰奶牛福利准则》，以确定可纳入该方案的潜在评估项目。通过这一福利评估过程，确定了84项潜在评估项目（20项基于记录，64项需要在农场进行评估）。在筛选排除了不相关、在以牧场为基础的奶牛养殖中实际应用有限或所需时间超过可用时间的农场评估项目后，剩下28项农场评估项目，将其与20项基于记录的评估项目放在一起，并在两个以牧场为基础的奶牛场测试其可行性、实用性和所需时间。然后将评估项目确定为合适、修改后合适或不可行。合适和修改后的评估项目随后与新西兰奶牛场特有的其他措施一起纳入最终方案。最终方案包括24项农场评估项目和8项基于记录的评估项目。在该方案可用于常规评估新西兰奶牛福利之前，需要在新西兰更多的奶牛场对这32项评估项目进行进一步测试。
