Assessing Extensive Cow-Calf Welfare in Namibia: Feasibility of Adapting a New Zealand Beef Cow Welfare Assessment Protocol

Namibia needs a robust welfare assessment protocol for beef cattle for benchmarking and trade. As there is presently no such protocol, one was developed for Namibian conditions based on one designed for extensive beef cattle in New Zealand which had been derived from the Welfare Quality and UC Davis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied animal welfare science 2023, Vol.26 (1), p.91-101
Main Authors: Kaurivi, Y. B., Laven, R. A., Hickson, R., Parkinson, T. P., Stafford, K. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Husbandry - methods
Animal Welfare
Animals
Beef
Beef cattle
Calves
Cattle
Commercial farms
Drought
extensive beef cows
Farms
Feasibility Studies
Female
Grazing
Households
Namibia
New Zealand
Parasites
Predation
Pregnancy
Protocol
Welfare assessment
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Summary:Namibia needs a robust welfare assessment protocol for beef cattle for benchmarking and trade. As there is presently no such protocol, one was developed for Namibian conditions based on one designed for extensive beef cattle in New Zealand which had been derived from the Welfare Quality and UC Davis Cow-Calf protocols, the modified protocol was evaluated in a semi-commercial farming village during the pregnancy testing of 141 cows from 5 herds of different households. Animal- and stockperson-based measures were assessed directly, cows were observed at grazing, and a questionnaire-guided interview was conducted. The protocol provided a good basis for welfare assessment, but additional measures and modifications were needed for the Namibian system. These were the effects of recurrent drought, predation, plant poisoning, external parasites, walking long distances to water and grazing, compulsory hot-iron branding, extraneous cattle marking, and variable standards of handling facilities. The protocol was modified to incorporate these changes, resulting in a total of 40 measures. It now needs full validation through widespread testing across the range of beef production systems used in Namibia.
ISSN:1088-8705
1532-7604
DOI:10.1080/10888705.2021.1937168