Assessing the welfare of pasture-based dairy cows of New Zealand and transhumance chauris of Nepal : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Runenga Porehuroa, University of New Zealand, School of Veterinary Science, Manawatu

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorLaven, Richard
dc.contributor.authorSapkota, Sujan
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-16T23:08:01Z
dc.date.available2024-06-16T23:08:01Z
dc.date.issued2024-06-14
dc.description.abstractThere is no industry-recognized welfare assessment protocol for pasture-based dairy cows of New Zealand. Also, the welfare assessment in yak/chauri raised under the transhumance system is at the preliminary stage. So, there is a strong necessity of a pastured-based welfare assessment protocol for pasture-based dairy cows in New Zealand and transhumance yak/chauri in Nepal. The aim of the research studies presented in this thesis were to develop a practical and time-limited welfare assessment protocol suitable to pasture-based dairy farms, and transhumance yak chauri focused on a single visit around milking. During the process, 84 different welfare measures were collected from six protocols and 4 welfare studies which were screened and trialed in two pasture-based farms to finalise 32 welfare measures including 5 additional measures specific to New Zealand. These measures were tested on 23 different dairy farms from the Waikato and Manawatu. All the measures were feasible except for the measure related to water availability and behavior. Testing of the repeatability and reliability should be performed for all the selected measures on more number of farms before taking this protocol for commercial use. Also, we further did subsampling-based locomotion scoring on five different pasture-based dairy farms to know if they could predict herd level prevalence. The findings were that there was a significant association between the order in which cows were milked and their susceptibility to lameness. However, the percentage of lame cows within the sub-sampled group was not uniform and was significantly influenced by the farm and the timing of the visit. For our yak/chauri protocol, 31 potential welfare measures were submitted to 120 Nepalese experts for evaluation identifying 13 measures, plus a new one (hematology) was deemed useful. The resulting protocol was tested in five chauri herds in northern Nepal, encompassing animal-based evaluations, mastitis and parasite sampling, and hematology. The protocol was found to be feasible and offers a valuable starting point for yak/chauri welfare assessment.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/69850
dc.publisherMassey Universityen
dc.rightsThe Authoren
dc.subjectAnimal welfareen
dc.subjectAnimal health surveillanceen
dc.subjectDairy cattleen
dc.subjectHealthen
dc.subjectCondition scoringen
dc.subjectNew Zealanden
dc.subjectYaken
dc.subjectReproductionen
dc.subjectClimatic factorsen
dc.subjectNepalen
dc.subjectpasture-based dairy cowsen
dc.subjectyak hybridsen
dc.subjectwelfare assessmenten
dc.subject.anzsrc300306 Animal welfareen
dc.subject.anzsrc300999 Veterinary sciences not elsewhere classifieden
dc.titleAssessing the welfare of pasture-based dairy cows of New Zealand and transhumance chauris of Nepal : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Science at Massey University, Runenga Porehuroa, University of New Zealand, School of Veterinary Science, Manawatuen
thesis.degree.disciplineVeterinary Science: Dairy Cattle Welfare
thesis.degree.namePh.D.
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-abridgedSujan developed a welfare assessment protocol specifically designed for New Zealand's pasture-based dairy cows and Nepal's transhumance yak hybrids. After rigorous testing, he determined that these protocols could effectively be used for routine welfare assessments of pasture-based cows and transhumance yak hybrids.
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-longDespite being a leading producer and exporter of dairy products, New Zealand lacks an industry-recognized welfare assessment protocol. Since most dairy farms in New Zealand are pasture-based, existing protocols designed for intensively housed cows are unsuitable. A pasture-specific welfare assessment protocol is essential for accurately evaluating the welfare of these cows and enhancing transparency for both national and international consumers of New Zealand dairy products. Sujan developed a welfare assessment protocol specifically for pasture-based dairy cows during milking time to address this need. He tested the feasibility of his protocol on 23 dairy farms across New Zealand's North Island, concluding that it could be routinely used to assess the welfare of pasture-based cows. Furthermore, Sujan applied insights from his New Zealand study to develop and test a welfare assessment protocol for yak and yak hybrids reared under the transhumance system in Nepal's Himalayan region.
thesis.description.name-pronounciationSU-JAN SAP-KOTA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
SapkotaPhDThesis.pdf
Size:
3.34 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Theses and Dissertations