ABSTRACT
In tropical developing regions, such as Brazil, animal welfare (AW) has been gaining increasing attention, while stockperson job satisfaction, which is intimately related to AW, is often neglected. This research evaluated the effects of AW training on stockpersons' attitudes and behaviour towards dairy cows and the impact on cows' fear of humans. Ten dairy farms with pasture-based systems where animal handlers are farm owners or employees were selected from three regions of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The experiment consisted of four stages: 1) Selection of pasture-based dairy farms; 2) First assessment of attitudes, human behaviour, and cows' flight distance (day one D1); 3) Pre-assessment of owners' and employees' AW knowledge, and training (day two D2); and 4) Final assessment of attitudes, human behaviour, cows' flight distance, and owners' and employees' AW knowledge (day three D3), focusing on the training's effects on human attitudes and behaviour, and cows' fear of humans. Among owners and employees, positive attitudes were more often expressed, and negative attitudes were less frequent on day three (D3) after training. Nevertheless, the expression of positive attitudes by farm owners was less common compared to employees. Stockpersons manifested positive behaviour more frequently at D3 than on day one (D1), before training, in contrast to negative behaviour at D1. Taking all cow handling observations together, including those before and after training, the greatest percentage of negative behaviour was at the time of moving the cows from the holding area to the milking stalls (18% of all observed human behaviour), followed by moving cows out of the milking parlour (17%), positioning cows for milking (15%) and placing/removing the milking suction devices (1%). Positive human behaviour usually occurred when moving cows from the holding area to the milking stalls (21%) and during the positioning of cows for milking (19%). After training, cows' flight distances decreased. In conclusion, the training may have promoted positive human behaviour and reduced the number of fearful cows. Therefore, AW training may positively influence human behaviour, technical expertise, the reduction of fear in cows, and stockpersons' attitudes.(AU)
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Behavior, Animal/physiology , Animal Welfare , Cattle/physiology , Farmers , BrazilABSTRACT
Debate on ethics in animal production started in 1960s. Since that time, discussion on animal welfare (AW) has taken large proportions, where laws and specific rules were created in some countries. Also, this issue has been considered a major subject, and discussed in different levels such as academic, business and social spheres. Although there is a lot of information and good practice manuals for livestock production, information is still limited so that animal welfare practices can be adopted on farms effectively. Currently, the development of protocols that can assess the level of AW in properties is a reality. For dairy cattle in intensive systems, the Welfare Quality® protocol evaluates and addresses critical points so that improvement might be implemented. However, little information exists for dairy cattle in extensive systems. Thus, based on covering actions directed by the animal welfare management, behavior, nutrition, health, facilities, transportation, and human resource management, a proposal for dairy cattle on pasture in Brazil aims to provide and to disseminate good AW practices for dairy cattle on pasture. Hence, a welfare manual for good practices was created, which describes the actions and strategies to best promote the AW in this livestock production.(AU)
Na década de sessenta, o debate sobre a ética na produção animal foi aberto. Desde aquela época, a discussão sobre o bem-estar animal (BEA) tomou grandes proporções, como a criação de leis e normas específicas em alguns países. Além disso, o BEA tem sido discutido em diferentes esferas acadêmica, empresarial e social. Embora exista grande quantidade de informações e melhores práticas na produção pecuária, ainda há pouca informação para implementar efetivamente as práticas de proteção dos animais de produção. Atualmente, o desenvolvimento de protocolos que possam avaliar o nível de BEA nas propriedades é uma realidade. Para bovinos leiteiros em sistemas intensivos, o protocolo Welfare Quality® avalia e aborda os pontos críticos para que as melhorias possam ser implementadas. No entanto, existe pouca informação para bovinos leiteiros em sistemas extensivos. Assim, abordando ações dirigidas ao BEA, comportamento, nutrição, saúde, instalações, transporte e gestão de recursos humanos, o Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ambiência NUPEA/Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz/Universidade de São Paulo , com o objetivo de fornecer e difundir as boas práticas de BEA a todos os que trabalham com bovinos de leite em pasto, criou o manual de boas práticas para o bem-estar: bovinocultura de leite em pasto, descrevendo as ações e estratégias para melhor promover o BEA nesta produção pecuária.(AU)
Subject(s)
Animals , Cattle , Animal Welfare , Ethics , Animal Husbandry/ethics , Behavior, AnimalABSTRACT
Debate on ethics in animal production started in 1960s. Since that time, discussion on animal welfare (AW) has taken large proportions, where laws and specific rules were created in some countries. Also, this issue has been considered a major subject, and discussed in different levels such as academic, business and social spheres. Although there is a lot of information and good practice manuals for livestock production, information is still limited so that animal welfare practices can be adopted on farms effectively. Currently, the development of protocols that can assess the level of AW in properties is a reality. For dairy cattle in intensive systems, the Welfare Quality® protocol evaluates and addresses critical points so that improvement might be implemented. However, little information exists for dairy cattle in extensive systems. Thus, based on covering actions directed by the animal welfare management, behavior, nutrition, health, facilities, transportation, and human resource management, a proposal for dairy cattle on pasture in Brazil aims to provide and to disseminate good AW practices for dairy cattle on pasture. Hence, a welfare manual for good practices was created, which describes the actions and strategies to best promote the AW in this livestock production.
Na década de sessenta, o debate sobre a ética na produção animal foi aberto. Desde aquela época, a discussão sobre o bem-estar animal (BEA) tomou grandes proporções, como a criação de leis e normas específicas em alguns países. Além disso, o BEA tem sido discutido em diferentes esferas acadêmica, empresarial e social. Embora exista grande quantidade de informações e melhores práticas na produção pecuária, ainda há pouca informação para implementar efetivamente as práticas de proteção dos animais de produção. Atualmente, o desenvolvimento de protocolos que possam avaliar o nível de BEA nas propriedades é uma realidade. Para bovinos leiteiros em sistemas intensivos, o protocolo Welfare Quality® avalia e aborda os pontos críticos para que as melhorias possam ser implementadas. No entanto, existe pouca informação para bovinos leiteiros em sistemas extensivos. Assim, abordando ações dirigidas ao BEA, comportamento, nutrição, saúde, instalações, transporte e gestão de recursos humanos, o Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ambiência NUPEA/Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz/Universidade de São Paulo , com o objetivo de fornecer e difundir as boas práticas de BEA a todos os que trabalham com bovinos de leite em pasto, criou o manual de boas práticas para o bem-estar: bovinocultura de leite em pasto, descrevendo as ações e estratégias para melhor promover o BEA nesta produção pecuária.