on farm welfare

what is cow comfort index (CCI)

• number of cows observed lying in stalls divided by the total number either lying or standing in a stall for that time period (Target> 85%).

• This measure gives an indication of the cow’s motivation to enter and lie down in a cubicle.

• However, it does not give any indication of how long the cow spends lying.

what is stall use index (SUI)

• as the number of cows lying in the stalls divided the total number of cows in the pen.

• Some cows in the pens will be eating, drinking, milking, using environmental enrichment, they are not counted.

• This reflects the comfort level of the cubicles and the wasting time idling in passageways waiting for a cubicle to become available (Target>75%).

what are the 3 main categories of welfare metrics

• resource based

• management based

• animal based

what is resource based welfare

Quantitative and qualitative measures evaluating the physical housing, space, and environmental provisions provided to the animals.

what are the pros and cons of resource based welfare

• Objective,

• repeatable,

• straightforward to evaluate during environment assessments;

• cons: , providing resources alone does not guarantee good welfare if accessibility is restricted by dominance or poor system design.

what is management based metrics

Evaluates operational routines, stockperson behaviour, attitudes, and human-animal interactions (HAR).

what are the pros and cons of management based metrics

pros

• Standardizes farm procedures and handling protocols

cons

• however, compliance does not always directly capture the immediate affective state or subjective experience of individual animals.

what is animal based metrics

Direct observations of physical health, physiological markers, or behavioural outputs taken from the animals themselves.

what are the pros and cons of animal based metrics

pros

• Directly reflects the animal's actual welfare outcome and health state resulting from combined inputs;

cons

• however, some animal-based metrics (e.g., mortality) are crude indicators, requiring more sensitive early-warning indicators (e.g., metabolomics or automated tracking)

what is benchmarking

Benchmarking involves systematically measuring and comparing welfare indicators against past performance or industry standards to drive continuous improvement.

what is internal benchmarking (time series comparison)

Farms track their own internal metrics over time (e.g., serial QBA evaluations or monitoring living space changes after housing modifications) to assess interventions

what is external benchmarking (peer group comparison)

A farm's metrics are compared against regional or national benchmarks.

what does benchamrking provide data for

• provides quantitative data needed for farm assurance schemes and retailer assessments

• maintaining the farm's societal license to operate.

what can be used to assess housing and living space assessment

living space calulator

how do you do housing and living space assessment

• Protocol: Assessors perform a visual sweep for system bottlenecks, then enter the pen to capture total accessible indoor/outdoor area, cubicle numbers, feedface length, and water space.

• Calculation: Calculates Living Space (additional space per cow available above a baseline minimum) to ensure unhindered cow flow and reduced competitive displacement.

what is used in physical and health outcome scoring

• Body Condition Scoring (BCS): Sensitive indicator to identify undernutrition, excessive fat deposition, or metabolic disorders prior to clinical illness.

• Lesion, Hock, & Cleanliness Scoring: Quantitative scoring of foot/leg lesions, hock hair loss/abrasions, and udder/body hygiene

• Cow Comfort Indices: Evaluating rest metrics in cubicles (e.g., of cows in cubicles lying down; lying cows ruminating; lying down within 1 minute of entering).

what parts are there to quantitiative assessment and housing score tools

• housing and living space assessment

• physical and health outcomes scoring

what qualitiative and holistic welfare tools are there

• qualitative behavioural assessment

• standardised framework

what welfaer assessment tools can be used on farm

• quantitative assessment and housing scoring tools

• qualitative and holistitc welfare tools

what qualitative and holistic welfare tools ar ethere

• qualitative behavioural assessment

• standardised frameworks

what is qualitative behavioural assessments

• protocol: An assessor observes the group/herd undisturbed for 10–20 minutes to evaluate their expressiveness or "body language".

• Visual Analogue Scale (VAS): Measures 20 standardized descriptive terms on a line from Minimum to Maximum expression:

• Negative Affects: Fearful, agitated, frustrated, bored, irritable, uneasy, apathetic, distressed.

• Positive Affects: Active, relaxed, calm, content, indifferent, friendly, playful, positively occupied, lively, inquisitive, sociable, happy.

• Output: Descriptive terms are weighted and combined into an overall positive emotion score to track welfare changes over time or evaluate housing modifications.

what is standardised framework

• Integrates animal-, resource-, and management-based measures across 4 main principles (Good Feeding, Good Housing, Good Health, Appropriate Behaviour).

for negative welfares what is the

• goal

• framwework

• welfare level

Minimizing pain, suffering, injury, disease, and distress.

The Five Freedoms (Focuses on "Freedom from" negative conditions).

Baseline / Survival state ("A life worth living").

for positive welfares what is the

• goal

• framwework

• welfare level

Promoting positive affective states, agency, choice, and life satisfaction.

The Five Domains Model (Integrates physical/functional inputs to generate mental state).

Flourishing state ("A good life").

what is the 5 domains model

1. nutrition

2. physical environment

3. health

4. behavioural interactions

these are then integrated to 5. mental state

how do tou evaluate a farm for positive and negative welfare indicators

1. Initial Passive Observation (Undisturbed Herd/Group):

1. Human-Animal Relationship (HAR) & Stockmanship:

1. Physical Health & Animal Outcome Metrics:

1. Environmental, Living Space, & Enrichment Resource Audit:

1. Qualitative Behavioral Assessment (QBA) Scoring:

1. Synthesis & Recommendations:

initial passive observatioN?

• Observe cows from a vantage point without disturbing normal daily routines to identify behavioral bottlenecks.

• Look for Negative: High frequencies of aggressive displacements at the feed barrier, cross-sucking in calves, perching in cubicles, or stereotypic mouth-based behaviors.

• Look for Positive: Expression of play behavior (e.g., bunting or pushing hanging sailing buoys), active self-grooming, social allogrooming, or content resting postures.

human animal relationship and stockmanship

• Evaluate stockperson attitude and animal fear responses.

• Negative: Animals exhibiting high fear, sudden flight, or panic upon human approach (which induces physiological stress and depresses milk yield/productivity).

• Positive: Calm, relaxed animals with low flight distances, reflecting gentle tactile handling and positive stockperson attitudes[cite: 7, 14].

environmental, living space and enrichment resouce audit

• Measure living space allowance, cubicle dimensions (lunge space ", neck rail diagona l"), mattress softness, and feedface length.

• Audit available positive welfare enrichments: Check for mechanical brushes ("), access to outdoor loafing yards, pair-housing for calves, or toys/objects (e.g., hanging sailing buoys, straw bales, or ropes. )"

qualitative behavioural assessment scoring

• Complete a 10–20 minute QBA session scoring the 20 expressive terms on the Visual Analogue Scale to measure overall emotional state.

synthesis adn recommendations

• Map findings across the Five Domains. Formulate practical, low-cost modifications (e.g., installing brisket boards, adding hanging buoys, adjusting neck rails, or opening gates to outdoor loafing yards) to shift cow welfare toward the positive side of the spectrum.

physical health and animal outcome metrics

• Sample representative cows to record:

• Lameness and mobility scores.

• Body Condition Scoring (BCS extremes).

• Cleanliness and hock/knee lesion prevalence

what are some -ve indicators

• high lameness/ hock lesion rates

• cross sucking, stereotypies

• high flight distance and fear of stockperson

• perching in cubicles and aggressive displacements

what are some +ve indicators

• play behaviours

• active brush use and self grooming

• voluntary exploration

• contentment, relaxed lying and positive qba scores