Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 36
1 Q. The points I have made about the regularity of calfing,
the difficulty of some calves being born and the
2 simultaneous pregnancy and lactation. Is that disturbing,
distressing for the cows?
3 A. In what respect?
4 Q. As someone who is interested in welfare, is that something
that you would encourage if you are concerned about the
5 welfare of a cow?
A. I do not recognise immediately any problem being -- it
6 depends on frequency, but I do not recognise immediately
any intrinsic problem of the association between lactation
7 and being pregnant in the dairy cattle.
8 Q. How often ----?
A. Can I add one thing? In my experience, when I have
9 worked on dairy farms, it is of benefit to have your
lactating cows not bulling too often, that is, not an
10 oestrus too often. If they are pregnant you get less
activity in the buyer(?), the farlour(?), or wherever you
11 are handling the animals, and you get less risk of trauma
associated with that. So you could add the argument that
12 sometimes there is an advantage of lactating cows being
pregnant in terms of reducing or minimising the risk of
13 trauma, particularly slipped H's or a broken pelvis.
14 Q. Does not becoming continuously pregnant put a strain on
the cows?
15 A. You are talking about the prevalence or the extent of
the situation rather than the association in isolation.
16 Now, that depends upon a number of circumstances, a number
of factors. I think what you are asking is whether the
17 present demands on dairy cows in terms of their production
is over demanding for their metabolisms, is that the case,
18 or are you asking something else? I am getting a bit
confused, to be honest.
19
MR. JUSTICE BELL: Does a time come when repeatedly bearing
20 calves while being a milking cow puts a strain on the cow
which troubles you?
21 A. I think if you are putting, you are making the cow
pregnant and calfing, within a year, the calfing index,
22 there is a limit to how many calves you will get out of
that cow and maintain her productive performance. So the
23 longevity or life expectancy of a cow will be reduced if
you crop her at an excessive frequency.
24
MR. MORRIS: Would you say once a year is excessive? You
25 cannot go much faster than that, can you, really?
A. Over what period? What happens is under that
26 situation the cow would get into an exhaustive state, so
it is a progressive phenomenon over a period of years. So
27 when you say once a year, over how many years do you
mean?
28
Q. It is my understanding that something like the cow that
29 would go to Sun Valley -- sorry, McKey's would be
something like six years old after having something like
30 four calves or something?
A. Maybe three calves, yes. That would be similar for
