Kaurivi Yolande Baby, Laven Richard, Parkinson Tim, Hickson Rebecca, Stafford Kevin
School of Veterinary Medicine, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
School of Agriculture and Environmental Management, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Jan 12;11(1):165. doi: 10.3390/ani11010165.
A proposed animal welfare assessment protocol for semi-arid rangeland-based cow-calf systems in Namibia combined 40 measures from a protocol developed for beef cattle in New Zealand with additional Namibia-specific measures. Preliminary validation of the protocol had been undertaken with five herds in one semi-commercial village. The aim of the current study was to apply this protocol and compare animal welfare across three cow-calf production systems in Namibia. A total of 2529 beef cows were evaluated during pregnancy testing in the yards of 17 commercial, 20 semi-commercial, and 18 communal (total: 55) herds followed by an assessment of farm resources and a questionnaire-guided interview. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate the difference in the welfare scores between the production systems. The results indicated a discrepancy of animal welfare between the three farm types, with a marked separation of commercial farms from semi-commercial, and communal village farms in the least. The differences in these production systems were mainly driven by economic gains through access to better beef export market for commercial farms and semi-commercial villages, as well as by the differences in the available grazing land, facility designs/quality, and traditional customs in the village systems. The results indicate an advantage of commercialization over communalization.
一项针对纳米比亚半干旱草原地区肉牛繁殖系统的动物福利评估方案，结合了新西兰为肉牛制定的方案中的40项措施以及纳米比亚特有的其他措施。该方案已在一个半商业化村庄的五个牛群中进行了初步验证。本研究的目的是应用该方案，比较纳米比亚三种肉牛繁殖生产系统中的动物福利情况。在17个商业化、20个半商业化和18个社区（共55个）牛群的牛栏中进行怀孕检测时，总共评估了2529头肉牛，随后对农场资源进行了评估，并进行了问卷调查式访谈。使用非参数检验来评估不同生产系统之间福利得分的差异。结果表明，三种农场类型之间存在动物福利差异，商业化农场与半商业化农场明显分开，社区村庄农场的差异最小。这些生产系统的差异主要是由商业化农场和半商业化村庄进入更好的牛肉出口市场带来的经济收益驱动的，以及村庄系统中可用放牧地、设施设计/质量和传统习俗的差异。结果表明商业化相对于社区化具有优势。
