Dairy cow well-being on large, high-performance Wisconsin dairy herds

Abstract

The emergence of confinement-housing facilities for large herds of dairy cattle has been associated with increasing concerns for animal welfare from consumer groups and animal activists. Some believe that lowered production from grazing and the cessation of production-enhancing technologies, such as bovine somatotropin (BST) and monensin sodium, is healthier for the cow and results in a healthier, safer food product for the consumer. The Food Animal Production Medicine section at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been researching and working alongside Wisconsin farmers for over a decade to help build and remodel dairy cattle housing that promotes health, well-being and productivity, resulting in successful herds and farmers. The Dairyland Initiative was formed to spread these efforts further within the state and beyond its borders. This study tests the hypothesis that large, high-producing dairy herds have excellent standards of animal well-being by auditing herds for select measures of well-being along with herd housing and management characteristics.