Qualitative assessment of dairy cattle welfare

The present study aims to apply a methodology developed for the qualitative assessment of animal behaviour to the evaluation of dairy cattle welfare. Six farms (2 tie stall, 2 straw yard and 2 cubicle systems) were filmed to produce six 3.5 min videos. Each of them contained 4 clips: overall view of the barn, feeding, milking, individual animals. Ten undergraduate students were instructed to provide qualitative assessment of videos using Free Choice Profiling (FCP). Data from FCP were subjected to Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA). GPA showed a significant consensus among observers. The 2 main dimensions of the consensus profile explained 39.5 and 26.8% of variation, respectively. Observers characterised the first dimension with terms ranging from constrictive to comfortable conditions and the second one in terms of cleanliness/dirtiness. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted using the scores of the farms on the first two dimensions of GPA and the data gathered through the ANI 35L scheme. The two main dimensions of PCA explained 91% of variation. The first dimension of GPA (unrestricted; 0.39), ANI’s sheet 1 (Locomotion; 0.42), sheet 2 (Social interaction; 0.42) and sheet 6 (Summary scores; 0.43) showed higher loadings on the first component of PCA, whereas the second dimension of GPA (cleanliness; 0.61), sheet 3 (Flooring; 0.45) and sheet 4 (Stockmanship; 0.49) were more correlated with the second component of PCA. We concluded that qualitative assessment may be used for the evaluation of dairy cattle welfare.