Welfare assessment of udder health in intensively managed dairy cows

Abstract

Udder abnormalities is considered as the most important health problem in dairy cattle with a major impact on welfare. The purpose of the present study is to assess the welfare of udder and predisposing factors associated with udder abnormalities in intensively managed dairy cow. A total of 106 dairy cows from 6 different dairy farms in Chattogram district were investigated. Prevalence of farm practices revealed that 83.3% farms floor made of concrete where 33.3% farms use floor mats as bedding material. In case of feces cleaning, 50% of the farms use scooping and 33.3% of the farms use water spray. The prevalence of different udder abnormalities and their association with different farm practices was evaluated in studied cows. The result revealed that 12.3%, 11.3%, 10.4% and 4.7% cows suffered from mastitis, hardened udder, blocked teats and ununiformed teats, respectively. Udder abnormalities was found to be significantly (P<0.05) associated with hand milking but relationship between post-dipping and udder abnormalities was not significant (P>0.05). This study concluded that udder abnormalities is the major problem for lactating cows. Dairy farming will be more beneficial if udder health welfare improved.