Relationships Between Animal Welfare Scores and Milk Somatic Cell Count in Anatolian Buffaloes

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine the relationships between animal welfare score\r(AWS) and milk somatic cell count (SCC) in Anatolian buffaloes. The study carried out on 39\rbuffalo farms of Bafra district of Samsun province of Turkey between January and March 2020. To\robtain AWS data, a scale with 1 to 100 points (1-25: poor, 26-50: moderate, 51-75: suitable and\r≥76: excellent) was used. Locomotion ability (LA), social interaction (SI), flooring (F), indoor\rconditions (IC) and effect of stockman (S) were used to be AWS parameters. Milk samples were\ranalyzed by SCC using a portable cell counter. The SCC values were transferred to log10 base\rbefore the analyses. To assess the effects of AWS on logSCC, independent sample t-test was\rperformed. The relations of all parameters with each other were calculated by Kendall rank\rcorrelation method and the statistical analyses were carried out by SPSS 17.0. The highest and the\rlowest means were obtained from SI (79.66±1.28) and F (61.79±2.51), respectively. While the\rhighest correlation was estimated between IC and AWS (r=0.724), all AWS parameters had\rapproximately moderate relations with AWS. Positive or negative, but insignificant correlation\rcoefficients were estimated between any traits and logSCC. The means of SCC (136841±15522\rcells/ml) and AWS (68.70±1.67) of the present study were found within the suitable thresholds.\rRoutinely keeping the records on AWS and its components, and adding AWS data to the herd\rmanagement programs was suggested to the buffalo farm owners.