It’s getting to be the time of year when someone might contact our office with concern about livestock being out in cold weather. It is always nice to know folks are paying attention.
Experienced livestock operators here in Bartholomew County, understand that even when a barn is available cattle will choose to stay out-of-doors. Experts also point out that the outdoors is the best environment for preventing disease in the herd. Respiratory illnesses spread quickly in a confined environment, and, according to experts at Oregon State Extension, fumes from bedding and excrement can cause lung irritation, making cows more susceptible to pneumonia.
So what do the animals need? Given good health, significant body mass and excellent natural insulation, cattle, in particular, need very little shelter. The downwind side of a hill or wooded area are adequate under normal winter conditions. A lean-to on an outdoor structure is an additional level of protection. Windbreaks are more important than overhead shelter. Remember that moving a herd indoors comes with risks for disease spread, so just a bit of shelter outdoors is fine. Cattle aren’t pets, and it’s important to recognize that the model for care is different.
Standards for welfare
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As attention to food sources and animal welfare increase, it’s helpful to know that researchers like Dr. Candace Croney of Purdue’s Center for Animal Welfare Science are working on that front. The work of the center begins with the idea that animals in the care of humans deserve humane treatment. Further, the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) definition used by the Center may shed some light: “An animal is in a good state of welfare if it is healthy, comfortable, well-nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour, and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states of pain, fear, and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling, and humane slaughter.”
The center goes on to define forms of animal maltreatment, including abuse, neglect, and abandonment, as well as signs — by species — that welfare is good. One construct that’s useful across all species is the 1965 Brambell Report’s Five Freedoms, which include freedom:
From hunger and thirst
From discomfort
From pain, injury, or disease
To express normal behavior
From fear and distress
Behavioral indicators of distress and pain, across species, can include refusal to eat or drink, shivering, huddling, shaking the head, or an arched or hunched back posture when not urinating. Certain vocalizations can count, but that gets into specifics with species.
Signs of welfare
With degrees in horticulture, I find the center’s guidelines on individual species to be a great help. Separate guidelines on poultry, cattle, goats, horses, sheep, pigs, dogs, and cats are all available through the center at vet.purdue.edu/CAWS/publications.php in pamphlet form. Each covers normal behaviors, behaviors of concern, care, causes of poor well-being and signs of poor well-being. The Center suggests that those concerned about a specific animal welfare issue should contact their local animal control office, or in the case of livestock the Indiana State Board of Animal Health at in.gov/boah.
Kris Medic is Purdue Extension Bartholomew County’s educator for agriculture, natural resources and community development. She can be reached at 812-379-1665 or [email protected].
