Effects of surface type in an uncovered stand-off pad system on comfort and welfare of non-lactating dairy cows during winter

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of stand-off surface type on cow lying behaviour, cleanliness and lameness. One hundred and sixty Friesian × Jersey crossbreed, pregnant non-lactating dairy cows were blocked into five groups of 32 cows and randomly assigned to one of five treatments. Treatments consisted of cows grazing fodder beet in situ and remaining in the paddock with no stand-off (control), or grazing fodder beet in situ and spending 16 h on a stand-off pad with either a woodchip, round-stones (40–60 mm), sand, or geotextile ‘carpet’ surface. Lying duration, monitored by AfiAct electronic pedometers (Afimilk, Kibbutz Afikim, Israel), showed cows on stone spent significantly more (P < 0.001) time lying (9.5 h) than cows on woodchip (8.4 h), control (8.1 h), and sand (7.6 h), but similar to those on carpet (8.8 h). However, there were fewer (P < 0.001) lying bouts (4.6 bouts/d) and longer (P < 0.001) bout duration (137 min/bout) for cows on stone than other treatments (average 7 bouts/day and 85 min/bout), which may suggest that cows found standing and sitting on the stone surface uncomfortable. As measured by a cleanliness score, cows on the sand surface were less (P < 0.001) clean than cows on other surfaces. Lameness, which was determined by visual scoring, revealed only moderate cases of lameness which tended (P = 0.059) to be more prevalent for cows on stone (11.3%) or sand (12.5%), compared with lowest in woodchip (4.0%) or carpet (4.7%), and intermediate in the control treatment (8.8%). The data indicate that sand and the size of stone used are less suitable surfaces than woodchip or carpet for an uncovered winter stand-off pad to meet minimum requirements of animal comfort and welfare. While both the woodchip and carpet surfaces equally met animal welfare standards, the woodchip required less maintenance

Arab-West Report Papers 2007 - 2016

The dataset contains papers written between 2007 and 2016 by researchers and interns at the Center for Arab-West Understanding ( CAWU) in Cairo or by researchers and academics connected to CAWU. The papers aim at obtaining a better understanding of the role of religion in society, including: - Relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt; - Problems around church building, the highly controversial topic of (alleged) kidnappings of Christian youth, claims of forced conversions, reports on sectarian incidents in Egypt and media critique to uncover biased reporting within Egypt as well as the stereotypical tone in Western media; - The role of Christian and Muslim institutions in society and the political sphere; - Activities of human rights organizations; - Islam and politics. All papers are: - Descriptive and take different points of views serious as part of the description of events unfolding in society; - Contributing to a better understanding of people between different cultures and beliefs. Methodology: Papers always include Egyptian source material. Authors were recommended to make use of the AWR database, conduct interviews in Egypt and where encouraged to contrast results with western news coverage. Papers discuss one subject at length and were reviewed by Egyptian and/or Western academics, within the bounds of organizational possibility and edited by Cornelis Hulsman or others to guarantee academic standards. This has resulted in a number of unique studies about subjects that are rarely covered in depth elsewhere. These papers are completed texts but besides, additional texts from reviewers often include interesting suggestions for further research