Detailansicht

Zimbabwe's smallholder dairy is characterized by challenges such as high cost of conventional feeds, low capital base and severe resource constraints. These challenges impact negatively on the welfare of dairy cattle.Poor cattle welfare was evidenced in this study by the presence of higher proportion of cows with low body condition scores, longer avoidance distances, presence of severely lame cows, and high cleanliness scores.With increasing awareness by consumers on animal welfare issues there is definite need to address dairy cattle welfare in Zimbabwe if viability of the dairy sector is to be maintained