Cow compass and animal welfare

1. (resilience)(resilience)
Sustainability at Dairy farms
Sustainable sourcing
Longer productive life of the cow
In balance with environment at the farm.
Joost de Veer, 16-07-2014
(resilience)

2. (resilience)
 Important role for the veterinarian:
 In favour for the farmer
 Holistic view and predictive at the farm
 Holistic approach of the vet: connect results
and communicates with the farmer
Sustainability at dairy farms
(resilience)

3. (resilience)(resilience)
If you are good for the cow  the cow is good for you !!
 Why?
 Animal welfare is profitable for the farmer
• Longer productive lifetime
• Less youngstock
(resilience)

4. (resilience)(resilience)
Animal welfare
 Criteria
 Enough to eat, ration and husbandery
 Enough to drink, trough and husbandery
 Enough space, husbandery
 Natural behaviour
(resilience)

5. (resilience)(resilience)
Monitoring systems
EU, Welfare Quality System
 Time-consuming
Trial with University of Utrecht
Cow Compass β
(resilience)

6. (resilience)
 Risk-analyses: yes, high potential.
 Analyses shows risk factors at the farm
 Risks focussed at quality milk
 Risks focussed at quality of the way milk is
produced
 Certified veterinarian  Integrated Cow
Management training
 Pro-spective approach.
Farm monitoring system, risk analysis:
Cow Compass
(resilience)

7. (resilience)
Farm quality management- issues
 Food safety -> zoönoses
-> animal disease incidence
-> water supply
 Animal welfare -> animal disease incidence
-> cow comfort / welfare
-> natural environment
 Sustainable -> animal disease incidence
-> manure
-> natural environment
(resilience)

8. (resilience)
Lower quality food = Lower milk production
Risk
factors Chance of wrong cheese
Butaric acid  bad
cheese
Feed with mould
Bad water facility
(resilience)

9. (resilience)
Animal welfare under pressure:
Chance of short lifetime
Lower quality way of milk
production =
Lower milk production
and lower animal welfare
Risk
factors
Resting area
Bad water facility
(resilience)

10. (resilience)
Cow Compass monitoring system
Risk analysis
0
1
2
3
4
5
Milking
feeding and water
husbandry
animal welfarework routines
animal health
youngstock
1  risk full 5  without any risk
(resilience)

11. (resilience)
Components Cow Compass
Information for:
7 CSF’s Stakeholders
Critical Succes Factors e.g.: retail, goverment
± 40 PI’s Farmer
Performance Indicators
± 110 MCP’s
Management Control Points Farmer
(resilience)

12. (resilience)
Ideal time management of the cow
 Laying down and ruminate: 12 - 13 hours
 Eating : 6 hours
10-12 meals
 Drinking: 5 -10 minutes
15 - 20 litre a minute
 Milking and natural behaviour: 5 - 6 hours
(resilience)

13. (resilience)
Milking (CSF)
Bulk tank room Clean, milk temperature 2
Milk system Clean, replacing rubber components 4
Milking routine Milking with gloves, pre milking 5
Prevention Special treatment high risk cows 3
Score milking 3,3
PI
Performance
indicator
MCP
Management
Control Point
PI score
(resilience)

14. (resilience)
Feeding and water (CSF)
Performans
Indicator (PI)
Management
Control
Point (MCP)
Silage process Mould, conservation 1
Feed milk cows Quantity, quality, ration for milking cows 3
Feed dry cows Quantity, quality, ration for dry cows 4
Water milking cows Quantity, clarity, sediment, smell 3
Water dry cows Quantity, clarity, sediment, smell 5
Feed management
Concentrates, silage analyses, hygiene feed
place 5
Score feed and water 3,6
PI score
(resilience)

15. (resilience)(resilience)

16. (resilience)
Water trough: quality/
quantity
A cow can drink:
 15 - 20 ltr per minute,
 salmonella in sediment?
(resilience)

17. (resilience)
Salmonella environment
(resilience)

18. (resilience)
What does a cow like
Open trough,
7 cm per cow !!
clear, no sediment and
odeur
PI  5
(resilience)

19. (resilience)(resilience)
IHP 19
Seperator: food-selection
(resilience)

20. (resilience)
Housing (CSF)
PI MCP
Feed gate Number of feed places, 75 cm 3
Stable climate Light, ventilation, cow brush 2
Walking surface Quality ground, hygiene 2
Cubicle comfort Number, comfort, hygiene, space 3
Pasturing Pasturing, cow path 2
Score husbandry 2,3
PI score
(resilience)

21. (resilience)
Lay down comfort, knee test
(resilience)

22. (resilience)(resilience)
Cow-comfort freestall basics
Lunge space
Neck rail
Brisket Board
Cushion
Fresh Air
Curb height
Divider height
(resilience)

23. (resilience)
Irish, 1986
Body space
(resilience)
Head space
Space envelope for rising Holstein cow

24. (resilience)
IHP 24
Barn lay-out
Between
cubicles:
 3 mtr
(resilience)

25. (resilience)
IHP 25
Rubber floor
(resilience)

26. (resilience)
Cow comfort, pasture !
(resilience)

27. (resilience)
Animal Welfare (CSF)
PI MCP
Activity milk cows Cows not active, cows not used to humans 4 4
Condition score BCS <2 en >4 5 4
Locomotion score Locomotion score 3, 4, 5 9 3
Hock (swollen, damaged) Most common hock score 3 3
Hygiene cows Score 3 of 4 10 4
General appearance Ruminating, manure score, paunch score 20 3
General impression Skin / fleece, skin damaged 3 3
Score animal welfare 3,4
Green = number Blue = PI score
(resilience)

28. (resilience)
General impression, condition score, hocks, rumen fill
(resilience)

29. (resilience)
Locomotion score 3 ? 4 ?
(resilience)

30. (resilience)
Good looking cow !?
(resilience)

31. (resilience)(resilience)
IHP 31
Thin cows:
dry matter intake!
(resilience)

32. (resilience)(resilience)
IHP 32
The rumen  rumenfill
(resilience)

33. (resilience)
Working Routines (CSF)
PI MCP
Work, walk - and cross lines
Work line calves to milk cows, separation of
manure and feed 2
Animal health status BVD, IBR, Salmonella, Neospora, Para 3
Preventive Calf rearing separate of milk cows 3
Protocol working Mastitis, claw disorders 2
Score work process 2,6
PI score
(resilience)

34. (resilience)
Animal Health (CSF)
PI MCP
Bulk somatic cellcount 3
Mastitis 2
Claw disorders 3
Metabolic disorders e.g.displaced abomasis, milk fever, 4
Retained placenta ( > 24 hr) 5
Endometritis 3
Forced culling 3
Remaining diseases e.g. Bluetongue 3
Score animal health 3,4
Green = number Blue = score
PI score
(resilience)

35. (resilience)(resilience)
Quality system dairy industry
sustainability and animal welfare
 Partico introduced Koe-kompas, Friesland/Campina is joining
now
 Integrated Cow management vets are doing this job:
 40 % of their suppliers (4500 farmers)  2200 farmers
 Scientific evaluation by WUR/ASG, Wageningen
with Marten Scheffer (critical transitions in nature and society)
and Ingrid van Dixhoorn, reseacher
(resilience)

36. (resilience)(resilience)
Cow compass and resilience
0
1
2
3
4
5
Milking
feeding and water
husbandry
animal welfarework routines
animal health
youngstock
(resilience)

37. (resilience)(resilience)
0
1
2
3
4
5
Milking
Feeding
and water
husbandry
animal
welfare
work
routines
animal
health
younstock
Beoordeling
0
1
2
3
4
5
milking
feeding and
water
husbandry
animal
welfare
work
routines
animal
health
yougstock
Beoordeling
youngstock
High resilience
Low resilience


youngstock
(resilience)

38. (resilience)(resilience)
Dairy quality system focussed at prevention
 Cow-compass: risk analyses of the dairy farm  prospective
approach
 The present quality system is retrospective
Cow compass  important management
tool for the farmer, only with a very
knowledgeable veterinarian and farmer!!
(resilience)