Table 5.

Principles, criteria, and measures of the Welfare Quality^® Assessment protocol for dairy cows version 3.2 published in February 2024 [63].

Principles	Criteria	Measures
Good feeding	1. Absence of prolonged hunger	Body condition score
	2. Absence of prolonged thirst	Water provision (number/length in cm of water troughs, bowls), cleanliness of water points, water flow, functioning of water points
Good housing	3. Comfort around resting	Time needed to lie down, animals colliding with housing equipment while lying down, animals lying partly or completely outside the lying area, cleanliness of udders, flank/upper legs, and lower legs
	4. Thermal comfort	As yet, no measure has been developed
	5. Ease of movement	Presence of tethering, access to outdoor loafing area or pasture
Good health	6. Absence of injuries	Lameness, integument alterations
	7. Absence of disease	Coughing, nasal discharge, ocular discharge, hampered respiration, diarrhea, vulvar discharge, milk somatic cell count, mortality, dystocia, downer cows
	8. Absence of pain induced by management procedure	Disbudding/dehorning, tail docking
Appropriate behavior	9. Expression of social behaviors	Agonistic behaviors (head butts, displacements)
	10. Expression of other behaviors	Access to pasture
	11. Good human–animal relationship	Avoidance distance
	12. Positive emotional state	Qualitative behavior assessment (defined by 20 terms of body language)