Evaluation of Water Buffalo Holdings in Yozgat Province in terms of Environmental Factors Affecting Animal Welfare

Year 2018, Volume: 58 Issue: 2, 67 - 76, 27.12.2018

Yusuf Kaplan Zehra Bozkurt , Mustafa Tekerli

Abstract

This study has been conducted to assess resource-based and management-based factors affecting animal welfare in water buffalo husbandry holdings in Yozgat province in order to obtain basic data for a water buffalo welfare assessment protocol to be developed. An measurement, observation and evaluation form was developed to obtain the data by using that the results of studies recently published on water buffalo health and welfare and the dairy cattle assessment protocols the Welfare Quality® and AssureWel and the Unified Field Index protocol. One hundred thirty holdings in Yozgat province and districts were visited and resource-based and management-based measurements and evaluations were made according to the developed measurement, observation and evaluation form and face to face interviews with business owners and employees were carried out. It was observed that water buffalo husbandry holdings were small and medium scale and the animal husbandry was implemented traditionally. As a result, it was found that, the existing farm standards in buffaloes holdings concerning to the resource-based and management-based factors affecting animal welfare were satisfactory with respect to good feeding principles but were poor for both of the good housing and good health principles. Besides, it was concluded that the farm owners and workers did not have sufficient knowledge and skills in of the development and implementation of sustainable animal welfare management strategies in buffalo farms.

Keywords

Yozgat province, holdings, environmental factors, animal welfare

References

• 1. Anonymous (1995): Model code of practice for the welfare of animals— Farmed buffalo, prepared for the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management, published by CSIRO, 1995, SCARM Report Series No. 52. 2. Anonymous (2011): Çiftlik Hayvanlarının Refahına İlişkin Yönetmelik. Resmi Gazete No: 28151, 23 Aralık 2011. 3. Bharti PK, Dutt T, Patel BHM, Pandey HO, Tomar AKS (2015): Does age at weaning influences behaviour of Murrah buffalo calves under semi-intensive management conditions?. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 85 (9): 1031–1036. 4. Borghese A (2013): Buffalo livestock and products in Europe. Scient. Bull. Escorena, 3: 47-73. 5. Borghese A, Mazzi M (2005): Buffalo population and strategies in the world. In: Borghese, A. (Ed.), Buffalo production and research. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, 1–39. 6. Botreau R, Veissier I, Butterworth A, Bracke MBM, Keeling LJ (2007): Definition of criteria for overall assessment of animal welfare. Anim. Welfare, 16: 225–228. 7. Capdeville J, Veissier I (2001): A method of assessing welfare in loose housed dairy cows at farm level, focusing on animal observations. Acta Agric. Scand. Sect. A, 51: 62–68. 8. Carvalhal MVL, Sant’Anna AC, Páscoa AG, Jung J, Costa MJRP (2017): The relationship between water buffalo cow temperament and milk yield and quality traits. Livestock Science, 198: 109-114. 9. Colditz IG, Ferguson DM, Collins T, Matthews L, Hemsworth PH (2014): A prototype tool to enable farmers to measure and improve the welfare performance of the farm animal enterprise: The Unified Field Index. Animals, 4(3):446-462. 10. De Rosa G, Napolitano F, Grasso F, Pacelli C, Bordi A (2005): On the development of a monitoring scheme of buffalo welfare at farm level. Ital.J.Anim.Sci.,(4):115-125. 11. De Rosa G, Napolitano F, Saltalamacchia F, Bilancione A, Sabia E, Grasso F, Bordi A (2007): The effect of rearing system on behavioural and immune responses of buffalo heifers. Ital J Anim Sci, (2):1260-1263. 12. Di Palo R, Midea D, Campanile G, Rossi N, Zicarelli L (2001): Influence of management system on reproductive activity of dairy buffaloes during the hot season. In: Proceedings of the 6th World Buffalo Congress, 2001, Maracaibo, Venezuela. Maracaibo: WBC. pp. 130-136. 13. FAO (2015): FAO statistical pocketbook world feed and agriculture 2015. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 14. Gaughan J, Mader T, Holt S, Lisle AA (2008): A new heat load index for feedlot cattle. J. Anim. Sci., 86: 226–234. 15. Guccione J, Carcasole C, Alsaaod M, D’Andrea L, Di Loria A, De Rosa A,Ciaramella P, Steiner A (2016): Assessment of foot health and animal welfare: clinical findings in 229 dairy Mediterranean Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) affected by foot disorders. BMC Veterinary Research, 12:107. 16. Iqbal ZM, Abdullah M, Javed K, Jabbar MA, Ahmed N, Ditta YA, Mustafa H, Shahzad F (2017): Effect of varying levels of concentrate on growth performance and feed economics in Nili-Ravi buffalo heifer calves. Turk J Vet Anim Sci, 41: 775-780. 17. Khadda BS, Lata K, Singh B, Kumar R (2017): Study of buffalo husbandry practices in rural area of Central Gujarat in India. Buffalo Bulletin, 36 (1):75-87. 18. Khan S, Qureshi SM, Ahmed I, Shah MS (2011): Milk composition and yield changes with advancing pregnancy in dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Turk. J. Vet. Anim. Sci., 5(6): 375-380. 19. Kılıç İ, Bozkurt Z (2013) The relationship between farmers’ perceptions and animal welfare standards in sheep farms. Asian Australas. J. Anim. Sci., 26(9):1329-1313. 20. Kılıç İ, Bozkurt Z, Tekerli M, Koçak S, Çelikeloğlu K (2013): Afyonkarahisar ili koyunculuk işletmeleri çalışanlarının hayvan refahını etkileyen faktörlerle ilgili algıları. Lalahan Hay. Arast. Enst. Derg.,53 (1):29-38. 21. Main DCJ, Whay HR, Green LE, Webster AJF (2003): Effect of the RSPCA Freedom Food Scheme on the welfare of dairy cattle. Veterinary Record, 153:227-231. 22. Napolitano F, Pacelli C, Braghieri, A, Grasso F, De Rosa G (2017): Animal - Environment Interaction: Buffalo Behavior and Welfare, Chapter 4, pp:69-104. In: Edit by Presicce G.A. (2017). The Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) - Production and Research. Bentham Science Publishers. 76 Kaplan Y, et al. Evaluation of Water Buffalo Holdings in Yozgat Province in terms of Environmental Factors Affecting Animal Welfare Lalahan Hay. Araşt. Enst. Derg. http://arastirma.tarimorman.gov.tr/lalahanhmae Cilt 58, Sayı 2, 2018, 67-76 23. Napolitano F, Pacelli C, Grasso F, Braghieri A, De Rosa G (2013): The behaviour and welfare of buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in modern dairy enterprises. Animal, 7 (10):1704–1713. 24. Napolitano F, De Rosa G, Grasso F, Bordi A (2004): Influence of space restriction on welfare of weaned buffalo calves (Bubalus bubalis). Livestock Production Science, 86:117–124. 25. Pasha TN, Hayat Z (2012): Present situation and future perspective of buffalo production in Asia. The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 22(3): 250-256. 26. Perišić P, Bogdanović V, Mekić C, Ružić-Muslić D, Stanojević D, Popovac M, Stepić S (2015): The importance of buffalo in milk production and buffalo population ın Serbia. Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry, 31 (2):255-263. 27. Rashid MA, Pasha TN, Jabbar MA, Ijaz A, Rehman H, Yousaf MS (2013): Influence of weaning regimen on intake, growth characteristics and plasma blood metabolites in male buffalo calves. Animal, 7(9):1472-1478. 28. RSPCA (2018): Welfare standards for dairy cattle, Assurewel dairy cattle assessment protocol, West Sussex, UK. ( https://www.berspcaassured. org.uk/media/1283/rspca-welfare-standards-dairycattle- jan-2018.pdf.) 29. Saltalamacchia F, Tripaldi C, Castellani A, Napolitano F, De Rose G (2007): Human and animal behaviour in dairy buffalo at milking. Animal Welfare, 16: 139-142. 30. Salzano A, Spagnuolo MS, Lombardi P, Vecchio D, Limone A, Censi SB, Balestrieri A, Pelagalli A, Neglia G (2017): Influences of different space allowance on reproductive performances in buffalo. Anim. Reprod., 14(2):429-436. 31. Tekerli M, Küçükkebabçi M, Akalin NH, Kocak S (2001): Effects of environmental factors on some milk production traits, persistency and calving interval of Anatolian buffaloes, Livestock Animal Science, 68: 275-281. 32. TUİK (2017). Hayvansal Üretim İstatistikleri, 2017. Haber Bülteni, Sayı: 27704, 07 Şubat 2018. 33. Warriach HM, McGill DM, Bush RD, Wynn PC, Chohan KR (2015): A review of recent developments in buffalo reproduction - A Review. Asian Australas. J. Anim. Sci. 28(3):451-455. 34. Welfare Quality®2009 (2009): Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle. Welfare Quality® Consortium, Lelystad, The Netherlands. 35. Yang B, Zeng XLQ, Qin J, Yang C (2007): Dairy buffalo breeding in countryside of China. Italian J Anim Sci.,6(2):25–29. 36. Zava AM, Sansinena M (2017). Buffalo milk characteristis and byproducts. In: Edit by Presicce GA (2017): The Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) - Production and Research. Bentham Science Publishers. Sharjah, UAE. 37. Zicarelli F, Campanile G, Gasparrini B, Di Palo R, Zicarelli L (2005): Influence of the period and of the space on the milk production and on the consumption of dry matter in the Italian Mediterranean Buffalo. In: Proceedingsof the 3rd Congresso Nazionale sull’ Allevamento del Bufalo; 1st Buffalo Symposium Europe and the Americas, Paestum, SA, Italy. Paestum, SA, Italy: CNAB. pp. 75-76.