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MATPROG-Matprogrammet: Norsk mat fra sjø og land

Animal welfare in new housing systems for dairy goats

Tildelt: kr 0,70 mill.

The project NORAS HUS started in February 2004. The aim was to develop and gain experiences with new, future-oriented housing systems for dairy goats. In the project period the plan is to raise two pilot buildings in Nordland county and two buildings in T roms county. Different systems will be tried out, uninsulated and insulated units, perforated floors and built up litter, elevated lying platforms and permanent access to outdoor areas. The present application concerns evaluation of the functionality of the buildings with respect to animal welfare (including health). Construction of the new buildings will take place in 2006, and the plan is that they will be taken into use at the turn of 2006/2007. The indoor feeding period 2005/2006 will be used as a re ference year to record animal status the last year in the old housing, and 2007/2008 will be used as the reference year for evaluation of the functionality of the new buildings. Production and health status in the old housing systems based on data routin ely collected in Dairy Goat Recording (TINE) will be used as a reference. Blood samples will be taken for disease screening by means of laboratory analyses. Data from recordings at the slaughterhouses will also be collected (Gilde BA). The functionality of the buildings with respect to animal welfare will be evaluated by a multiple set of parameters according to a scheme used in dairy herds and adapted to goat herds. Health status will be evaluated through clinical investigations and blood collection for laboratory analyses. A protocol will be developed for recording of animal parameters and environmental conditions in the herds. Recordings will be undertaken by the farmer and the local veterinarian serving the herds. The effect of selected details in th e housing systems, for example lying platforms, on the behaviour of the goats will be studied by means of systematic behavioural observations, either video recordings or direct observations. The results will be

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MATPROG-Matprogrammet: Norsk mat fra sjø og land