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Welfare assessment in Portuguese dairy goat farms : on-farm overall feasibility of an international prototype

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Resumo:This study describes and assesses the application of the on-farm welfare assessment prototype for dairy goats (Capra hircus) developed by the AWIN project. Thirty Portuguese dairy goat farms were assessed from January to March 2014. Pen-level observations were carried out on 2715 animals and detailed individual observations were performed on 1172 of these animals. The main areas of concern were associated with claw overgrowth, queuing at feeding, overweight animals, poor hair coat condition and improper disbudding. The results obtained show that these welfare issues are related to farm sizes, with larger farms heading higher concerns. Furthermore, the reliability and feasibility of the animal-based indicators were tested. Overall, moderate to high levels of agreement between observers were identified, with the exception of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA). From all stages of the prototype ‘Queuing’ and ‘Clinical scoring’ were the most time consuming, with the mean time required to apply the prototype being longer in large farms. In conclusion, the protocol has shown the potential not only for legislative and regulatory purposes, but also as a certification, advisory/management and research tool, probably following a two-step approach.
Autores principais:Can, Edna Maria de Andrade Vieira
Assunto:Animal welfare AWIN Dairy goats Animal-based indicators Bem-estar animal Caprinos de leite Indicadores baseados no animal
Ano:2015
País:Portugal
Tipo de documento:dissertação de mestrado
Tipo de acesso:acesso aberto
Instituição associada:Universidade de Lisboa
Idioma:inglês
Origem:Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa

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