Variazioni stagionali di indicatori di benessere in allevamenti lombardi di bovine da latte in aree di pianura, collinari e pedemontane
Contributo in Atti di convegno
Data di Pubblicazione:
2012
Citazione:
Variazioni stagionali di indicatori di benessere in allevamenti lombardi di bovine da latte in aree di pianura, collinari e pedemontane / S. Mattiello, M. Battini, E. Andreoli, L. Bava, A. Tamburini, M. Brasca - In: Sistemi agro-zootecnici biologici ed eco-compatibili in ambiente montano / [a cura di] S. Bovolenta, S. Lolli. - Trento : Nuove Arti Grafiche, 2012. - ISBN 978-88-89222-10-2. - pp. 83-91 (( convegno Sistemi agro-zootecnici biologici ed eco-compatibili in ambiente montano tenutosi a Caderzone Terme nel 2012.
Abstract:
One of the main priorities of the agricultural EU policies is to set up valid, reliable
and feasible indicators for on-farm welfare assessment. The EU Welfare Quality® project has developed
a set of valid and feasible indicators, that have also been tested for inter-observer repeatability. For those
indicators, repeatability between different times of survey has already been tested, but always within
limited time spans; therefore, we have no information about their long-term repeatability, e.g. in extremely
different seasonal conditions. We can hypothesize that more or less marked seasonal variations can
occur, depending on farms’ geographical location. In order to verify this hypothesis, we collected some
welfare indicators, derived from the Welfare Quality® protocol, in 22 dairy farms located in plain, hilly and
piedmont areas in Lumbardy, both in summer and in winter. No differences between seasons were found
for presence of hairless patch areas, lameness, avoidance distance at the feeding rack (used to evaluate
human-animal relationship) and for the other behavioural indicators. The percentage of cow that are too
lean was higher in winter, especially in piedmont farms, where the climate is more severe. In fact, a long
cold period, with rain, snow and wind, may cause an increase of energy consumption that, in turn, can
make cows loose weight. The percentage of cows with diarrhoea was higher in winter, probably due to a
reduction of digestion efficiency, induced by low environmental temperatures, that increased the sensibility
of cows to enteric pathologies. We may conclude that the geographic location of the farms affected
the repeatability of some welfare indicators in different seasons. The present study was carried out in
the frame of the EULAT project, supported by Lumbardy Region, and that aims at the valorization of an
excellent production chain – in terms of environmental sustainability, animal welfare and nutritional quality
for the production of milk and dairy products.
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Elenco autori:
S. Mattiello, M. Battini, E. Andreoli, L. Bava, A. Tamburini, M. Brasca
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Link al Full Text:
Titolo del libro:
Sistemi agro-zootecnici biologici ed eco-compatibili in ambiente montano