Our Resources
A portfolio of resources have been created by Care4Dairy to support the best practice guides and factsheets on the welfare of dairy calves, heifers, cows and end of career animals. The portfolio consists of an app and four infographics, podcasts and videos, each available in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish and Spanish.
Download the Care4Dairy App
Care4Dairy App
Care4Dairy is pleased to announce the launch of the App, a cutting-edge digital solution designed to support dairy farmers with improving animal welfare. Developed in collaboration with leading European experts, the App provides farmers, veterinarians, and advisors with practical tools and insights to enhance dairy cattle management.
The App offers:
Infographics
Four Care4Dairy infographics outlining good practice and best practice recommendations for each life stage. All infographics, except for the End of Career, highlight key recommendations for the four welfare pillars: nutrition, environment, health and behaviour on different themes. The themes were selected based on feedback from national consultations with stakeholders about the factsheets. The infographic for the End of Career Cows provides a decision-tree on euthanasia. They are available in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish and Spanish.
Videos
Filmmaker Mario Chiarini and his team have created four short whiteboard videos for Care4Dairy, one per life stage. The topics include the calf environment in the first 21 days of life, preparation of heifers for calving, the importance of outdoor access for cows, and assessing pain in end-of-career cows. These videos are available in English, French, German, Greek, Polish and Spanish.
Check the videos on the EURCAW Ruminants & Equines YouTube channel
Providing good and best practice environment for calves from birth until 21 days of age
This video shows good and best practice environments for calves from birth until 21 days of age.
Preparation of heifers for calving
This video shows good and best practices for preparing heifers for calving.
The importance of access to outdoor spaces for cows
This video shows good and best practice for providing cows with access to outdoor spaces.
Assessing pain in end of career cows
This video shows good and best practice for pain scoring in cows.
Podcasts
Care4Dairy has recorded four podcasts, one per life stage. In each podcast Laura Rice interviews two guests: a Care4Dairy representative and either a farmer, farm advisor, veterinary expert or scientist. Topics for these podcasts include management strategies to reduce calf morbidity and mortality, good welfare improving cow productivity, hints and tips on cow-calf systems, and enrichment.
For translational purposes, the original transcript from the English edition was edited to simplify and clarify the conversations, and the text converted into audio. Both the audio and transcript are available for download.
Enriching the environment
Providing a stimulating environment is essential for cognitive and behavioural health and enhances resilience. In this podcast we hear from Kirsten Wosnitza, a dairy farmer in Germany and Dr Isabelle Veissier, from Care4Dairy.
Hints & tips on managing cow-calf contact systems
There are many benefits of cow-calf contact systems such as better immunity and growth and more social adaptability of the animals. This podcast hears from experts Professor Sigrid Agenäs from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Professor Siobhan Mullan (UCD, Ireland) from the Care4Dairy consortium..
Building belief that good welfare practices enable cows to be more productive
Key success factors to enhancing heifer productivity include regularly recording body condition or liveweight, health planning, reducing stress and encouraging positive behaviours. In this podcast we hear from Dr Joe Patton, Head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer Department, at Teagasc in Ireland, and Dr Luigi Iannetti from Care4Dairy.
Management strategies to reduce the risks from calf losses
Promoting a strong immune system of the calves and reducing disease challenge through health planning and biosecurity are key success factors for calf survival. In this podcast we hear from Dr Catherine McAloon, European specialist in bovine health from UCD, Ireland and Dr Claire Littlejohn from the Care4Dairy consortium.
