Effects of abrupt housing changes on the welfare of Piedmontese cows

The Italian Piedmontese cattle breed is traditionally housed in tie-stalls and, to a lesser extent, in loose housing systems with free stalls. The present study has compared the same group of 15 cattle before and after stable renovation (tie-stall vs free-stall housing) funded by Regulation (EU) No. 1305/2013. All the animals remained healthy during the trial, no clinical signs were observed and no mastitis occurred. The tested parameters were: locomotion scoring system, salivary cortisol, blood parameters, serum acute phase protein (albumin, haptoglobin, serum amyloid A and lysozyme). Samples were collected 3 times: before the change (T1), 3 days later (T2), 40 days later (T3). The change in housing determined noteworthy variations in the stress parameters: albumin and total protein displayed the lowest value at T2, while lysozyme displayed the lowest value at T3. Among the App, SAA and Hp were not affected by the sampling time. Salivary cortisol displayed the highest value at T1. This study suggests that tie-stall housing can endanger the welfare of animals, and it is hoped that this farming system will be abandoned in the future.