Animal Welfare Award 2024
First awarded in 2018 by the DLG in collaboration with the Federal Association of Practicing Veterinarians (bpt), the Animal Welfare Award is a special prize for innovations that particularly promote animal welfare. Only winners of a gold or silver medal of the Innovation Award EuroTier 2021 will be considered. Crucial for the selection are innovations in the fields of animal welfare and animal health. Products that promote the exercise of species-specific behaviors and positively support animal health are thus highlighted.
Cow-Welfare A/S
Cow-Welfare Flex Air Stall
Hall 12, Stand B49
This year, the Animal Welfare Award is being presented to the Flex Air Stall from Cow Welfare A/S. Avoiding heat stress in farm livestock poses a major challenge in times of climate change and increasingly long periods of very high temperatures in the summer. In addition to the significant impairment of animal welfare and health, heat stress in dairy cows also goes hand in hand with a significant decline in the milk yield. Retrofittable systems such as fans are difficult to implement in existing barn buildings and the desired cooling effect is often not achieved where it is needed, namely at the animal.
This is where the Flex Air Stall comes into play: the cow's comfort is significantly increased by a constant flow of fresh air into the lying area via the cubicle bar. This approach is as simple as it is innovative.
Animal suffering due to heat is therefore quickly and continuously prevented. A system that creates a comfortable climate zone in the animals' resting area and therefore quickly and effectively ensures optimum cow welfare in the freestall barn is available for the first time. The Flex Air Stall thus serves to directly protect the welfare and health of cows, particularly in the light of the current challenge posed by climate change, and is therefore thoroughly deserving of the Animal Welfare Award.