Evaluation of Animal Welfare in Extensive and Intensive Dairy Farms and its Correlation to Infectious Diseases

Abstract Background: The welfare of farm animals has become a growing concern in recent years. This is the first study that assesses dairy cow welfare by the application of an impartial, reproducible, functional check-list based on risk analysis which provides a numerical animal welfare index to each farm. We tested the effect of two different management conditions, housing with free access to pasture and indoor housing, on dairy cows kept in 36 farms and concurrently carried out the evaluation of different infectious diseases. Animal welfare assessment was performed in each farm through the CReNBA’s check-list. Moreover, the prevalence of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydiophila abortus, Neospora caninum, Bovine Herpesvirus specific antibodies IgB and IgE and of Bovine Viral Diarrhea virus was tested in each farm through ELISA serological test. Unpaired t-Test was applied to assess differences among the two experimental groups; while, Kendall’s Tau coefficient (T) was determined to investigate the relationship between studied variables. Results: The result of each area provided an indication of the burden and importance of each of these on the final calculation of the animal welfare value. ELISA was positive with different mean percentages. The application of Unpaired t-Test showed that the intensive housing system group had higher percentages of Bovine Herpesvirus specific antibodies IgB compared to the extensive housing system group. The application of Kendall’s Tau coefficient showed different correlations between studied areas and infectious diseases. Conclusion: The hazard analysis areas assessed farming and management conditions of the farms, but these may have different effects as they are regulated by the animals’ ability to adapt and are therefore less important when establishing the final welfare value. Those farms with the highest prevalence of infections could be associated with a poor level of business management. A proper evaluation of the problems encountered and a more accurate application of the check-list could prevent and control the spread of infections in farms. Our results want to be a contribution in breeding which provides farmers and veterinarians the instruments to improve animal welfare and farm business performance.