Tag: calves

Abstracts: Freedom from thirst-do dairy cows and calves have sufficient access to drinking water?

The importance of drinking water for production and animal welfare is widely recognized, but surveys and animal welfare assessment schemes suggest that many dairy calves and dairy cows do not have sufficient access. Limit milk-fed calves drink more water than calves fed milk ad libitum, but ad libitum milk-fed calves […]

Abstracts: Prevalence of potential indicators of welfare status in young calves at meat processing premises in New Zealand

In New Zealand, over two million dairy calves between four and seven days of age are sent to meat processing premises every year. There is a need to develop protocols for holistically assessing the welfare of calves sent to slaughter in the first week of life. This study aimed to […]

The effect of conspecific removal on behavioral and physiological responses of dairy cattle

Adverse social and welfare implications of mixing dairy cows or separating calves from their mothers have been documented previously. Here we investigated the behavioral and physiological responses of individuals remaining after conspecifics were removed. We conducted a series of 4 experiments incorporating a range of types of different dairy cattle […]

Abstracts: A scientific comment on the welfare of domesticated ruminants slaughtered without stunning

This review provides a scientific comment on the welfare of ruminants slaughtered by ventral-neck incision without stunning. Evidence is derived from studies of calves, sheep and goats. Reference is also made to findings in other mammals including humans. Pain is an inherently subjective experience and only indirect indices are available […]