Effects of farm size and labour type on the welfare of dairy cattle according to the Welfare Quality® protocol

Pembe Dilara Kecici; Hulya Yalcintan; Nursen Ozturk; Alper Yilmaz; Bulent Ekiz

Pembe Dilara Kecici, Assoc.Prof. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1151-179X
Hulya Yalcintan, Prof. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7062-1521
Nursen Ozturk, Assoc.Prof. Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0091-5812
Alper Yilmaz, Prof. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0223-4444
Bulent Ekiz, Prof. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6458-5747

Keywords: Welfare Quality®; Labour type; On-farm welfare assessment; Dairy cattle

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the welfare of 24 dairy cattle farms with the "Welfare Quality®" (WQ) protocol. Seven small-scale farms (6-25 dairy cattle), 8 medium-scale farms (26-100 dairy cattle), and 9 large-scale farms (101+ dairy cattle) were used to determine the effects of labour resources on animal welfare, farms were divided into 3 subgroups: i) Family farms (n: 11), ii) Family farms with hired workers (n: 7), and iii) Large enterprises with exclusively hired workers (n: 6). Farm size and labour-type had no effect on the four main principles and total WQ scores of farms (P>0.05). Study results indicated that, farm size and labour type have no significant effect on WQ principles and the total scores. All investigated farms were within the "acceptable" or "enhanced" welfare group according to the WQ protocol. However, family farms tend to have higher scores in some categories, indicating that having closer contact to animals helps for recognizing their needs.

It can be seen that housing conditions, managerial practises and the amount of labour per animal unit affect the welfare of the animals more than their operating capacity. The relatively small number of farms used in this study and the high variability between farms regarding the examined parameters were considered the most important limitations of the study. More detailed labour efficiency studies are needed to determine to what extent the welfare of animals are affected by the type and amount of labour.