Welfare problems in dairy calves

Abstract

The most significant welfare problems in dairy calves in intensive rearing conditions have been investigated in this paper. These problems mainly result from inadequate intake of colostrum (separation from the dam), inadequate ventilation (resulting in inappropriate airflow, low or high temperatures, high humidity and poor air quality), poor floor conditions (wet floor, without bedding), inadequate monitoring of health, exposure to pathogens causing respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders and occurrence of iron deficiency. In addition, on cattle farms in our country welfare problems in calves originate from continuous restocking (no "all in - all out") and mixing calves from different sources, as well as insufficiently balanced solid food, insufficient access to water and generally poor response of farmer to health problems, especially necessary dietary changes. A special welfare problem is insufficient floor space allowance which results in calf?s discomfort.U radu su istrazeni najznacajniji problemi dobrobiti kod teladi u intenzivnim uslovima gajenja. Ovi problemi su uglavnom posledica neadekvatnog uzimanja kolostruma (odvajanja od majke), neadekvatne ventilacije (dovodi do neodgovarajuceg protoka vazduha, niske ili visoke temperature, visoke vlaznosti i loseg kvaliteta vazduha), losih uslova poda (vlazan pod, pod bez prostirke), neadekvatnog pracenja zdravlja teladi od strane odgajivaca, izlozenosti patogenim mikroorganizmima koji izazivaju respiratorne i gastrointestinalne poremecaje i pojave nedostatka gvozdja. Pored toga, na farmama u nasoj zemlji problemi dobrobiti kod teladi poticu od kontinuiranog koriscenja staja (ne "sve unutra- sve napolje"), mesanja teladi iz razlicitih izvora, kao i od nedovoljno izbalansirane cvrste hrane, nedovoljnog pristupa vodi i generalno loseg odgovora farmera na zdravstvene probleme teladi, a posebno neophodne promene u ishrani. Poseban problem dobrobiti teladi su nedovoljne povrsine individualnih boksova koje rezultiraju u neudobnosti teladi. PR Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31086