Table 49.
Final ranking of farm characteristics deemed to be most useful indicators of poor dairy cow welfare at farm level, based on individual ranked values by the group members. Individual ranking scores were between 1 (most useful) to 18 (least useful), therefore lower summed rank scores represent higher ranked farm characteristics. The summed rank score had a possible range between 7 (best rank) and 126 (lowest). Mean rank scores are normalised values and represent the average rank given to each characteristic by each expert
| Farm characteristic | Sum Rank Score (ordered: most useful at the top) | Mean Rank Score (Total score divided number of experts (n = 7)) |
|---|---|---|
| More cows than cubicles (> 1:1) | 21 | 3.0 |
| Limited space for housed cows (< 7 m2/cow in total) | 35 | 4.9 |
| Inappropriate cubicle dimensions for cows in the herd (defined in Chapter 4) | 47 | 6.6 |
| High on‐farm mortality including emergency slaughter (annual incidence including young stock) | 49 | 7.0 |
| No access to pasture for at least 2 months of the year | 55 | 7.8 |
| Cubicle base too hard or insufficient depth (15 cm) of bedding | 55 | 7.9 |
| Lack of access to outside space of at least 1 m2/cow when housed | 57 | 8.1 |
| Insufficient feed space (65–70 cm per cow depending on breed) | 58 | 8.3 |
| High on farm cow mortality (Death or culling of adult cows in the first 100 days of lactation ≤ 4% per annum) | 59 | 8.4 |
| High somatic cell count (bulk milk > 300,000 cell/mL and > 10% of the cows > 400,000 cells/mL for 6 months/year) | 75 | 10.6 |
| Inadequate pain management (e.g. NSAIDs, sedatives) for routine procedures including disbudding, dehorning and castration | 76 | 10.9 |
| Inadequate procedures for regular foot trimming (at least once per lactation) or mobility scoring | 76 | 10.9 |
| High antimicrobial usage (> 17 mg/PCU ‐ where PCU is a standardised population‐corrected unit) | 77 | 11.0 |
| Farmer attitude towards health and welfare is inadequate (to be defined by survey) | 81 | 11.5 |
| Insufficient welfare training of staff – defined by attendance of specified courses on animal welfare | 81 | 11.6 |
| Low staff:cow (not quantified) | 94 | 13.4 |
| Herd calving interval too long (more than two consecutive years, above 400 days) | 95 | 13.5 |
| Inadequate cow tracks (not quantified) | 110 | 15.6 |