Animal welfare aspects of dairy farming

Animal welfare in dairy farming is characterised by avoiding health hazards for the animals and feeding of natural feedstuff which are given in amounts according to actual nutritional demands. The housing environment facilitates normal behaviour, avoids stress and lets animals arrive at a high age with high and stable performance. To achieve this, nutritional demands must be met and the housing elements must be kept in continuous function and in hygienically perfect condition. Only the farmer can make sure that the keeping of his animals is in total ethologically adequate. A combination of animal related, technical (including building) and management specific indicators is necessary on the farm level for comprehensive evaluation of whether animal welfare demands are met in the specific housing system.