Table 3.

Categorical ranking of health-related measures in the New Zealand cow-calf protocol.

Welfare Criteria	Animal Welfare Measure/Indicator	Scoring Description	Categorical Ranking in New Zealand Study
Absence of injuries/physical impairment	Swelling Hair loss/hairless Abrasions	% of observed cows with swelling, hairless patches or abrasions/fresh scratches (>1 cm)	0: 0.0% 8 81: 0.1–2% 2: >2%
Absence of disease	Lameness	% of observed cows with uneven weight weight-bearing on a limb that is immediately identifiable and/or obviously shortened strides	0: 0.0% 1: 0.1–2% 2: >2%
	Blindness Ocular discharges Nasal discharges	% of observed cows with ocular or nasal discharges extending 2cm, and those blind in one or both eyes	0: 0.0% 1: 0.1–2% 2: >2%
	Diarrhoea	% of observed cows with evidence of diarrhoea (more than a hand wide on both sides from base of tail)	0: 0–10.0% 1: 10.1–20% 2: >20%
	Dystocia	% of cows recorded with difficult births	0: 0.0% 1: 0.1–2% 2: >2%
	Mortality rate	% of accidental deaths, cattle which died due to disease, and those killed as a result of disease/accidents on the farm in the last 12 months	0: 0.0% 1: 0.1–2% 2: >2%
	Ear tagging/notching	Specify no tag or use of anaesthetics regardless of tagging or notching procedure and with/without the use of anaesthetic).	Ear tagging 0: no tag or use anaesthetics 1: tag with no anaesthetics 2: notching/cutting with no anaesthetics
Painful procedures	Castration Disbudding	Specify age at castration and use of anaesthetics Specify age at disbudding and use of anaesthetics	0: No castration/disbud 1: ≤2 months 2: >2 months