Because farm animal
well-being works.

Both farmers and veterinarians take care of food producing animals with the aim to keep them healthy, productive and to avoid suffering. In addition to compromised animals that are ill or injured, on a daily basis, they have to take the decision to remove healthy animals from the farm for sale, slaughter or euthanasia because they are not sufficiently profitable and can be replaced by better and higher profitable ones. How may welfare of farm animals at culling (slaughter or killing) be addressed?

According to animal rights supporters, it is never a fair deal for animals to be kept for production purposes. Other think that animals can be kept for production purposes as long as they are provided with a decent life and killed humanely. The culling of a healthy, less productive animal may, however, be in some cases morally questioned.

The cost of maintaining the herd (the cost of rearing replacements or buying them in minus the value of culls sold) is a major proportion of dairy farm variable costs.Culling rate is influenced by many factors which must all be understood and managed to ensure both profitability and good animal welfare.

Involuntary culling has welfare implications for the cow and represents an economic loss for the farmer. His economic decision on when to cull a cow may not occur at the same time as the ”cow’s welfare-based decision” on when to be culled. Understanding of relationships between profit, investment in remedial practices, expected lifespan and involuntary culling in dairy systems can help to assess the optimum replacement policies at cow level.

The high incidence of health disorders associated with calving can negatively affect cow milk production and reproductive performance. Although behavioural signs have long been considered indicative of illness there is surprisingly little scientific research that specifically addresses the value of behaviour as a disease indicator. Behavioural changes can be used to predict, identify, and assess health problems in the transition cow.

Animals feel pain and pain management should be considered when performing painful procedures. Dystocia and a variety of peri-parturient, birth-related conditions are likely to be painful. Management of pain through anaesthesia and/or analgesia should be part of treatment of these conditions. Improving the well-being of the post-parturient animal is crucial for its subsequent health and fertility.

Cows that have undergone a caesarean section are likely to experience post-surgical pain. Post-partum activity was investigated in beef cattle. Cow’s activity and lying behaviour were monitored to detect changes indicative of post-partum pain and discomfort following non-elective caesarean section, and the effects of meloxicam therapy to mitigate postoperative pain were assessed.

Although it is very likely that there are many positive benefits to treating dairy cows with NSAIDs post-calving, an important question is the timing of administration post-calving. Concerns remain about the retention of foetal membranes, although the current literature on NSAID therapy post-calving and the risk of retained placenta is mixed.