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This study describes the effects of floor system, digital dermatitis (DD) and interdigital dermatitis and heel-horn erosion (IDHE) on locomotion performance in 225 dairy cows of 12 commercial dairy herds. Nine herds were kept in cubicle houses with concrete passageways (either solid, slatted, or grooved concrete) and three herds were kept in straw yards. Animals were at most five times examined at monthly intervals for lesion severity of DD and IDHE and for locomotion score. Locomotion score was rated on a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (from normal to severe) and disturbed locomotion (lameness) was defined as a scoreor =3. A logistic regression model was used to analyze the 943 observations using lameness (yes/no) as outcome variable. The proportion of observations scored as lame (locomotion scoreor =3) increased from 18% 1 month after trimming to 29% at 4 months after trimming. Severe lesions of DD and IDHE were associated with a significantly higher proportion of lame cows. The proportion of animals with disturbed locomotion increased from 16% to 40% as the severity of DD increased and from 17% to 30% with increasing severity of IDHE lesions. Locomotion performance highly differed between the cubicle house and straw yard group. Only 1% of all gaits in straw yard cows were scored as lame, while in cubicle housed cows these percentages varied from 24% to 46% with grooved floors showing the highest average locomotion score. Due to the extreme low incidence of lameness in straw yards, the statistical analysis had to be restricted to observations on concrete floors (n=744). The logistic regression model with lameness (yes/no) as dependent variable and random effects of cow and herd resulted in Odds Ratios for severe DD and IDHE of, respectively, 3.2 and 3.2, both significantly larger than unity. Cows housed at grooved concrete floors showed the highest OR of 6.5 compared to solid concrete floors. Recovery of lameness was poor as disturbance in gait lasted several months.

A computer model for welfare assessment in laying hens was constructed. This model, named FOWEL (fowl welfare), uses a description of the production system as input and produces a welfare score as output. To assess the welfare status a formalized procedure based on scientific knowledge is applied. In FOWEL the production system is described using 25 attributes (space per hen, beak trimming, free range, etc.), each with two or more levels, together defining the characteristics of a production system. A weighting factor is used for each attribute, based on the available scientific knowledge of the effects of the attribute levels on the welfare aspects. The welfare score of a production system results from the attribute levels combined with the weighting factors. The results show that feeding level, space per hen, perches, water availability and nests were the most important attributes. The attribute free range was of minor importance. FOWEL includes a description of 22 production systems. The welfare score of cage systems was low, of barn and aviary systems medium, and of organic systems high. The presence of a free range resulted only in a small improvement in the welfare score. De auteurs beschrijven een computermodel dat de bijdrage van specifieke elementen van de huisvesting op de gezondheid en welzijn van hennen in diverse productiesystmen, inclusief het nut van een uitloopren, analyseert

Several claw shape measurements, horn hardness, and horn growth and wear were recorded monthly at 12 dairy farms to investigate the effect of floor type and changes in these traits over time. Herds were either housed on a slatted floor (SL), solid concrete floor (SC), grooved floor (GR), or on a straw yard (SY). Twenty cows per farm were selected and stratified by parity. Information on claw traits was recorded on right lateral hind claws between October 2002 and May 2003. In addition, lesion development of interdigital dermatitis and heel erosion (IDHE) and digital dermatitis (DD) was studied in both rear feet. No differences in claw traits were detected among groups on different floor types, with the exception of claw angle. Claw angles were smallest in cows on SY. Claws of cows on SC were steeper than those on SL and GR. The study provided no evidence that floor-related differences in claw lesions were related to differences in horn growth, wear, and resulting claw shape. Lesions of IDHE developed gradually over time and did not differ among flooring types. Cows in SY had the smallest lesion scores for DD, whereas cows on SL had significantly less DD than cows on SC and GR. Incidence of DD fluctuated over time. Development of different stages of DD was monitored in-depth. Both early and healed stages were rather changeable and often turned into other disease stages. Classical ulcerative lesions (stage M2) persisted for a long time, with 20% of the initially unaffected claws having active lesions of DD within 5 mo. The M2 lesions generally did not cure effectively after claw trimming, and frequent use of footbaths resulted in a poor prognosis for recovery.

Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of sward height (experiment I) and the distance between barn and pasture plot (experiment II) on cows’ visits to an automatic milking system (AMS) and other behaviour. The study was carried out in a situation in which grazing was combined with fully automatic milking. The cows had to visit the system voluntarily without interference of the farmer. The AMS was continuously available in the barn adjacent to the pasture. The pasture was divided into ten plots of 1 ha for the two experiments and the preceding habituation. The same group of 24 Holstein Friesian cows was used in both experiments. The cows were allowed to spend up to 15 h at pasture daily. The results of experiment I (rotational grazing) showed that the total number of AMS visits increased from 4.4 to 7.3 and that the number of milkings increased from 2.6 to 3.0 when sward height decreased (P

Automatic milking systems (AMS) enable cows to be milked without human interference. Such systems are more acceptable to consumers and from the animal welfare point of view if they can be combined with grazing in the summer season. In this study, grazing was combined with fully automatic milking for a group of 24 crossbred Holstein–Friesian cows. It was assumed that the cows would visit the AMS voluntarily. Zero grazing (G0) was compared with restricted grazing (cows could spend up to 12 h outdoors daily; G12) and unrestricted grazing (cows could spend up to 24 h daily at pasture; G24). The AMS was continuously available in the cowshed adjacent to the pasture of 1.5 ha. Water was available in the barn, but not at pasture. The average daily milking frequency was 2.3 in G24 compared with 2.5–2.8 in the other treatments (p

The introduction of fully automatic milking systems (AMS) on dairy farms can only succeed if cows visit the system more or less voluntarily, at regular intervals. This can be arranged by either forced or free cow traffic. In the case of forced cow traffic, the AMS is the only route from the lying area to the feeding area. An alternative is free cow traffic, where the cows can decide whether to visit the AMS or not. The behaviour in 3 x 20 crossbred Holstein Friesian dairy cows in three experiments (experiment Ia, Ib and II) was studied in a cubicle house with a selection system consisting of a selection stall and a concentrate feeder, simulating an AMS. Cows could obtain 250 g of concentrate in the system once every six hours. Actual milking occurred in a conventional milking parlour twice a day. Experiment Ia consisted of (1) a reference phase with no use of the selection system, (2) free cow traffic, (3) forced cow traffic, and (4) a reference phase. Experiment Ib was a repetition of experiment Ia. Experiment II was divided into (1) a reference phase with no use of the selection system, (2) forced cow traffic with two one-way passages between the feeding and lying areas, (3) forced cow traffic with one one-way passage, (4) free cow traffic with one free passage between the feeding and lying areas, and (5) free cow traffic with two such passages and (6) a reference phase. The number of visits paid to the selection system by individual cows appeared to be consistent in the different phases in each experiment (r = 0.52 in experiment I (P < 0.05); r = 0.68−0.86 (P < 0.01) in experiment II). In experiments Ia and Ib, cows seemed to visit the selection system more often during forced cow traffic than during free cow traffic, but this was because some of the cows did not visit the system at all during free cow traffic. Therefore, the differences were not significant. In experiment II, cows paid the same number of visits to the selection system during different types of cow traffic, but when two passages were open during free cow traffic, the cows visited the system less (P < 0.01). During forced cow traffic, cows spent more time standing on the slatted floor in the feeding area, spent less time standing at the feeding gate and made less journeys from the lying to the feeding area (significant in two of three experiments; P < 0.01). It was concluded that forced cow traffic may improve the frequency of visits to the AMS, but somewhat restricts the cows' behaviour, and may, therefore, be questionable. Free cow traffic could work if cows are previously conditioned to take the route to the AMS.

This study describes the effects of housing pigs under optimal climatic conditions in a Specific-Stress-Free (SSF) housing system on health, behavior, immunological responsiveness, and production performance of 78 pigs from 10 litters. Pigs housed in an SSF system, where they were neither mixed nor transported, were compared with a control group of pigs for which transport was simulated and which were mixed at approximately 25 kg; transportation to another location and mixing are usual procedures in two-site systems. The SSF pigs had a higher growth rate for the finishing period (P < .01), but this was a smaller improvement in performance than in previous studies, probably due to less mixing in this study. Clinical signs were hardly seen in the SSF group, but aggression after mixing caused ear lesions in the control group. Pigs that were not mixed had a higher response 12 and 18 h after an intradermal injection of phytohemagglutinin (P < .001) compared to the control pigs. At 1 d ad 1 mo after mixing the control pigs, more agonistic interactions were seen in these pigs compared with the SSF pigs (P < .05 and P < .01, respectively). In conclusion, health, welfare, and production performance of pigs are improved when pigs are kept in an SSF housing system where they are not mixed or transported.

During the last three decades, rearing conditions for pigs have changed drastically (e.g. reduction in floor space and impoverishment of the environment). Very little is known about the longterm effects of the changed rearing conditions on the behaviour of pigs. However, knowledge on this point is of great practical interest if, for instance, disturbed behaviour like high levels of aggression or poor maternal behaviour appear to result from early-life conditions. Four litters of eight piglets each grew up in either a farrowing crate (4 m 2, fully slatted concrete floor) or in a pen with straw as litter (28 mS). The piglets stayed in these housing systems until the age of 8 weeks and were weaned at 6 weeks. At the end of Week 8, two gilts per litter from the crate and two gilts per litter from the straw-bedded pen were housed in a straw-bedded pen (8.4 m s) and kept for breeding. Two weeks before the expected farrowing, the gilts were individually housed in straw-bedded pens; the gilts were not restrained. During rearing (Weeks 1-8), direct observations were made on the behaviour of the piglets. Later the gilts were observed for 5 days before, during, and 13 days after, farrowing. Piglets in the straw-bedded pen performed more exploratory behaviour than piglets in the crate (P