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Assessing the welfare of dairy calves: outcome-based measures of calf health versus input-based measures of the use of risky management practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

E Vasseur ,
D Pellerin ,
AM de Passillé ,
C Winckler ,
BJ Lensink ,
U Knierim  and
J Rushen
E Vasseur*
Affiliation:
Organic Dairy Research Center, University of Guelph-Alfred Campus, Alfred, Ontario, Canada K0B 1A0 Department of Animal Sciences, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, G1K 7P4 Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0
D Pellerin
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Sciences, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, G1K 7P4
AM de Passillé
Affiliation:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0
C Winckler
Affiliation:
Division of Livestock Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), A-1180 Vienna, Austria
BJ Lensink
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Comportement Animal et Système d’Exploitation (CASE), Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture (ISA), 59046 Lille, France
U Knierim
Affiliation:
Department of Farm Animal Behaviour and Husbandry, University of Kassel, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
J Rushen
Affiliation:
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: vasseur.elsa@gmail.com
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Abstract

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The mortality and morbidity of unweaned dairy calves and management practices that may impair calf health and welfare were surveyed on 115 farms in Canada (Quebec) and 60 farms in Central Europe (Austria and Germany) to examine whether outcome-based measures of calf health could be used to identify farms that use management practices that place calf health at risk. Quebec herds had higher juvenile mortality incidence than those in Central Europe. Juvenile mortality was poorly estimated by producers. Low levels of mortality did not include low levels of morbidity in the same herds. Health status was not necessarily associated with management practices generally recommended for health and welfare. Many management practices that may impair calf health and welfare were found in Quebec while only some were found in Central Europe; these were related to calving management and care of the newborn, colostrum management, calf-dam separation, calf feeding, weaning and calf housing. Inadequate recording of calf morbidity and mortality can be a problem in using recorded measures to assess the level of calf health on a farm. The recorded mortality and morbidity do not necessarily show the extent that producers use management practices that pose a risk to calf health.

Keywords

animal welfaredairy calveshealthmanagementon-farm assessmentproducers’ attitude
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 77 - 86
Copyright
© 2012 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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