Relationships between Animal Welfare Scores and Milk Somatic Cell Count in Anatolian Buffaloes

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine the relationships between animal welfare score (AWS) and milk somatic cell count (SCC) in Anatolian buffaloes. The study carried out on 39 buffalo farms of Bafra district of Samsun province of Turkey between January and March 2020. To obtain AWS data, a scale with 1 to 100 points (1-25: poor, 26-50: moderate, 51-75: suitable and ≥76: excellent) was used. Locomotion ability (LA), social interaction (SI), flooring (F), indoor conditions (IC) and effect of stockman (S) were used to be AWS parameters. Milk samples were analyzed by SCC using a portable cell counter. The SCC values were transferred to log10 base before the analyses. To assess the effects of AWS on logSCC, independent sample t-test was performed. The relations of all parameters with each other were calculated by Kendall rank correlation method and the statistical analyses were carried out by SPSS 17.0. The highest and the lowest means were obtained from SI (79.66±1.28) and F (61.79±2.51), respectively. While the highest correlation was estimated between IC and AWS (r=0.724), all AWS parameters had approximately moderate relations with AWS. Positive or negative, but insignificant correlation coefficients were estimated between any traits and logSCC. The means of SCC (136841±15522 cells/ml) and AWS (68.70±1.67) of the present study were found within the suitable thresholds. Routinely keeping the records on AWS and its components, and adding AWS data to the herd management programs was suggested to the buffalo farm owners.

Keywords

• animal welfare
• husbandry
• management
• somatic cell count
• water buffalo