Understanding The Behaviour And Improving The Welfare Of Dairy Cattle

The welfare of farmed animals such as cattle is an increasing concern for consumers and regulatory agencies. This book explores the science behind our understanding of dairy cow behaviour and ways to improve their welfare. Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of dairy cattle summarises this wealth of recent research and reviews dairy cattle behaviour in areas such as cognition, learning, pain and stress. The collection features authoritative assessments by leading experts on developments in welfare indicators, monitoring and certification, as well as approaches to improve welfare practices of calves, heifers and transition cows at different stages of production including housing, transport and slaughter. With its distinguished author team and wide-ranging coverage, Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of dairy cattle will be a standard reference for university and other researchers in dairy and veterinary science as well as ethology. It will also be a key reference for government and other agencies involved in regulating and monitoring farm animal welfare, as well as dairy farmers and companies processing milk and other dairy products.

The aim of this manual is to improve the welfare of dairy cattle in tropical developing countries, and by doing so, optimise cow and herd performance. It gives the stockmen and farmers directly concerned with the cattle a better understanding of animal behaviour and the ways cattle communicate their comfort or distress. The book discusses normal cattle behaviour and shows how domestication and breeding can affect behaviour to achieve high levels of production of milk, live weight gain and fertility. Animal welfare is important for producers because it can affect the health, production and contentment of cows. Animal welfare practices which adversely affect cow and herd performance on tropical small holder dairy farms are identified. Advice is then given to change the animal's environment or modify a handler's technique to ensure cattle have the degree of comfort needed to achieve more profitable and sustainable systems of livestock farming. Cow Talk will be a beneficial resource for farmers who want to improve animal welfare, farm advisers who can assist farmers to improve their welfare practices, educators who develop training programs for farmers and dairy advisers, and other stakeholders in tropical dairy production such as local agribusiness, policy makers and research scientists.

This book provides a comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the welfare of cattle. It starts with a consideration of animal welfare science and its application to the management of cattle and moves through to discussions of the challenges and opportunities for providing good welfare for cattle in farming and husbandry systems across the globe. The first section comprises three chapters that discuss the social, behavioural and physiological methods that can be used to assess welfare in cattle. The second section considers the welfare challenges of beef and dairy cattle in extensive and intensive systems. The third section details welfare challenges such as at slaughter, during handling and in the growing period and details solutions such as the use of sensors and application of animal breeding techniques. The final section addresses welfare challenges and solutions in achieving sustainability, in smallholder farms in Africa and new entrant dairying in Asia and cow shelters in India. This work makes a valuable contribution to the field of animal welfare and modern livestock farming. It is a must-read for researchers and students, veterinarians as well as industry personnel and informed farmers and producers.

This book covers all aspects of research into the welfare of dairy, veal and beef cattle, covering behavior, nutrition and feeding, housing and management, stockmanship, and stress physiology, as well as transport and slaughter. It also offers a detailed and critical analysis of the main indicators of animal welfare and covers the main threats to animal welfare in modern cattle production systems.

Dairy Cattle Welfare in Practice takes a very practical approach, first outlining what welfare is, using the Five Freedoms as a baseline before making the business case for good welfare. It demonstrates how poor welfare can lead to economic losses and using case studies to show how welfare improvements have led to increased productivity. Assessing animal welfare on the farm is also covered and practical strategies for improving welfare on the farm are provided. 5m Books

A comprehensive and thoroughly revised text on dairy science that contains information on the most recent developments The fully updated third edition of Understanding the Dairy Cow explores the scientific principles that provide a foundation for understanding the animal’s body system. The comprehensive text also reveals how to properly manage dairy cattle with economic efficiency whilst taking into consideration the cow’s welfare. The revised new edition contains expanded coverage on topics including insight into cow behaviour and welfare, genetic selection indices, new strategies for control of mastitis and lameness and information on the overworked cow. It also contains the most recent developments in breeding, nutrition and management. Is an authoritative text on the dairy cow that covers a wide-ranging subject area including the science, disease and husbandry Presents the information and knowledge necessary for the efficient and humane management of cows Includes expanded coverage on a variety of topics such as cow behaviour and welfare, and genetic selection indices Highlights major new developments in the field Covering both the basics and recent developments in dairy science, Understanding the Dairy Cow 3rd Edition is ideal for students in agriculture and veterinary science and for professionals working in the complex business of dairy farming.