Cow Talk [op]: Understanding Dairy Cow Behaviour to Improve Their Welfare on Asian Farms

The aim of this manual is to improve the welfare of dairy cattle in tropical developing countries, and by doing so to optimize cow and herd performance. It gives the stockmen and farmers directly concerned with the cattle a better understanding of animal behavior and the ways cattle communicate their comfort or distress. The book discusses normal cattle behavior and shows how domestication and breeding can affect behavior to achieve high levels of production of milk, live weight gain and fertility.

Animal welfare is important for producers because it can affect the health, production and contentment of cows. Animal welfare practices which adversely affect cow and herd performance on tropical small holder dairy farms are identified. Advice is then given to change the animal’s environment or modify a handler’s technique to ensure cattle have the degree of comfort needed to achieve more profitable and sustainable systems of livestock farming.