Indicadores de bienestar animal en bovinos

Abstract

Cattle production in Colombia must focus on optimizing the meat and milk production process while maintaining sustainability parameters. Determining the level of animal welfare becomes a priority during production. Providing welfare is a producer's commitment, encompassing aspects such as adequate facilities, nutrition, management, treatment, and disease prevention. The objective of this assessment was to determine the state of animal welfare in the livestock production system of the UFPSO Experimental Farm, measuring the four parameters of the Welfare Quality® protocol (complying with adequate feeding, housing, health, and the presence of appropriate behavior), 12 criteria, and 32 indicators (14 based on facilities and management and 18 based on the animal). For each parameter, a minimum percentage of 80% compliance was determined, classifying it as "excellent," "improved," "acceptable," or "unclassified." To rate each parameter, the values ​​obtained for each criterion were averaged, resulting from the average score for each indicator. The production systems were found to offer animal welfare conditions, with final results of 94.81% for the Dairy Cattle Production System and 91.74% for the Creole Cattle Production System. There were areas for improvement related to the quantity and quality of shade, hoof care, and adequate human-animal relationships. The welfare level of the production systems was high. However, indicators requiring improvement were evident in some criteria. The improvement plan should focus on these areas to achieve optimal welfare levels.

Keywords

• alimentación ganado
• comportamiento animal
• instalaciones ganaderas
• protección anima
• salud animal (agrovoc)