Welfare assessment for dairy cows in loose stalls

In this paper, welfare assessment using the methodology of the Welfare quality ? assessment protocol for cattle (2009) was performed for dairy cows maintained in the loose system of rearing on three dairy farms. This methodology includes quantitative measurements and qualitative evaluation of certain welfare parameters, criteria and principles of welfare, as well as assessment of the overall welfare of dairy cows. The results showed that the overall level of dairy cow welfare was acceptable on two farms, and was good on one. On two farms, the state of the cows? social behavior expression was unacceptable. Furthermore, on all three farms, the expression of other types of cow behavior was not acceptable. At one farm, it was determined that the result for the absence of prolonged thirst was unacceptable. Based on these results, it can be concluded that it is necessary to improve the quality of cow welfare on these farms. The applied methodology provides a multidimensional insight into the quality of cow welfare in the loose system. U ovom radu izvrsena je procena dobrobiti krava u slobodnom sistemu drzanja primenom metodologije iz Protokola za procenu kvaliteta dobrobiti goveda (2009). Ova metodologija obuhvata kvantitativna merenja i kvalitativnu procenu definisanih parametara u okviru kriterijuma i principa dobrobiti i na osnovu njih konacnu ocenu dobrobiti muznih krava. U istrazivanjima je utvrdjeno da je nivo dobrobiti krava u celini na dve farme prihvatljiv, a na jednoj dobar. Na dve farme socijalno ponasanje krava je bilo nezadovoljavajuce, dok su na sve tri farme bili nezadovoljavajuci drugi oblici ponasanja krava. Na jednoj farmi je utvrdjen nezadovoljavajuci rezultat za kriterijum odsustvo dugotrajne zedji. Na osnovu rezultata istrazivanja moze se zakljuciti da je neophodno poboljsanje kvaliteta dobrobiti krava na svim ispitivanim farmama. Takodje je zakljuceno da primenjena metodologija pruza multidimenzionalni uvid u stanje kvaliteta dobrobiti krava u slobodnom sistemu drzanja.