Table K.2: Farm characteristics initially proposed by members of the expert group, deemed most likely to be indicative of, or associated with, poor dairy cow welfare on European dairy farms
| Expert 1 | Expert 2 | Expert 3 | Expert 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero‐grazing for at least 60 days/year | Continuous (or all‐year round) housing without access to pasture | Prolonged housing; > 4 months/year | Freedom of the dairy cow to choose where she wants to be (freedom to choose if she will be on pasture, in a shed, in the stable, in the milking robot and so forth) |
| Overstocking at the cubicles (> 1.1 cows/cubicle) | A cow to cubicle ratio of less than 1:1 (might even be 1:1 or higher) | Non‐recommended cubicle dimensions; incorrect length | Basic training in animal welfare of staff (Lack of attention from the primary caretaker(s). When the caretaker is not/no longer capable of observing that something is wrong) |
| Uncomfortable cubicle base | Cubicles with no forward lunging space | Low staff to cow ratio | Mortality, including also proportion of euthanised cows (as an indicator of timely dealing with the cow before it is dying) |
| Space allowance per cow (including cubicles/lying area) | Low staff to cow ratio | Infrequent cow roadway maintenance; every 2–3 years | Inter‐quartile range of body condition scores among milking cows – as an indicator of hunger or obesity and the interaction between feeding, milk yield and lameness |
| Share of employed workers | High calf mortality | Lameness frequency or frequency of claw and leg disorders (that are not managed) | |
| Expert 5 | Expert 6 | Expert 7 | Expert 8 |
| Access to an outside space (≥ 1 m2/cow in size) for all milking cows when housed in cubicles or yards, at all times of year | The number of cubicles is too low (less than 1.2 cubicle per cow) to ensure sufficient assess to lie down during the main resting periods | Attitudes of the farmer towards the cows' behaviour and welfare criteria | A farm where functional hoof trimming is not done at least once per lactation in all cows (e.g. at drying off) |
| Cubicle availability per cow when housed in cubicle facilities at all times of year; ≥ 5% more cubicles than cows (i.e. 100 cows would require ≥ 105 cubicles) | Cubicles are too small (dimensions depending on breed) to support comfortable resting behaviour as well as lying down and getting up movements. | Pain management practices for routine painful procedures performed by the farmer, the technician and the vet | A farm where on farm mortality, including rearing animals > 1 day old, is above 5% |
| Bedding depth when housed in cubicles or yards at all times of year; ≥ 15 cm depth | Cubicles are too hard (less than 10 cm bedding or deformable surface) to support comfortable resting behaviour as well as lying down and getting up movements. | Ratio no of workers / No of cows, heifers and calves on the farm | A farm where bulk tank SCC is over 300.000 cell/mL at least 6 months per year and more than 10% of the animals are above 400.000 cells/mL at least 6 months a year. |
| Total space requirement for milking and dry cows when housed in cubicles or yards at all times of year; ≥ 7 m2 per cow | The total area too small (less than 8–10 m2 depending on breed) and limits cow's access to resources such as feeding and resting places | Housing system (the ones that we defined in the main document) | A farm where calving interval is for more than two consecutive years, above 400 days. |
| Involuntary culling – Losses (death or culling) of adult cows in the first 100 days of lactation; ≤ 4% per annum (% of all cows calving) | The number of feeding spaces per cow (one pace is 65–70 cm per cow depending on breed) is too low to ensure ad libitum access to fed during activity periods | Ratio profits/No of cows, heifers and calves on the farm | A farm with constant high use of antimicrobials or over 17 mg/PCU (where PCU is a standardised population‐corrected unit) |