Bem-estar Animal Em Explorações Leiteiras - Percepção Dos Produtores Vs Realidade

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Jacinto, Diana Margarida
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	To improve animal welfare (AW) on dairy farms, the farmer perception of the problem has to be also improved. If a farmer does not perceive a problem, it is unlikely that treatment will be provided and prevention plans will be implemented. The purpose of this paper was to investigate if 9 dairy farmers’, using loose housing cubicle systems, were aware of their farms welfare problems by analyzing their perception of several welfare indicators. The researcher assessed 5 welfare indicators – comfort indices (cow comfort index and stall use index), hygiene score (SH), body condition score, locomotion score (SL) and avoidance distance (AD). The farmers answered a survey which revealed their assessment of the same 5 indicators. Both results, the researcher and the farmers’ assessment, were compared. The SH, SL and AD assessment indicated poor welfare conditions. There were a statistically significant difference between the SL and AD assessed by the researcher and the farmers’ perception of the same indicators. These results confirm that the farmers’ perception of their animals’ welfare does not always correspond to the reality. But to understand why this happens it is necessary to conduct further studies that assess the farmers’ beliefs, attitudes and motivations. In order to improve animal welfare it would be crucial to inform and educate the farmers, and the Veterinarian has the necessary knowledge and skills to perform this task.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://recil.grupolusofona.pt/bitstream/handle/10437/1587/Mestrado%20Medicina%20Veterin%C3%A1ria%20-%20Bem-estar%20Animal%20em%20Explora%C3%A7%C3%B5es%20Leiteiras%20-%20trabalho%20escrito.pdf?sequence=1
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article