Simple SummaryBranding cattle with hot irons is a painful procedure, inflicting severe burns that take weeks to heal. Although Sri Lanka prohibits hot-iron branding, the practice is still common in some areas of the country but has not been described. We observed branding practices on four smallholder farms and identified welfare concerns and challenges impeding adoption of alternative methods of identification, such as ear tags. Farmers used multiple irons to mark their initials and, in some cases, their address, with the largest brands extending across the ribs and hip. Farmers did not consider ear tags a viable alternative to hot-iron branding because of issues with security and tag retention. Hot-iron branding raises serious animal welfare concerns and efforts to introduce more welfare-friendly alternatives are needed.AbstractHot-iron branding is illegal in Sri Lanka, but is still commonly used to identify dairy herds in extensive farming systems, which are primarily located in the country’s Dry Zone. Despite the negative welfare implications of this practice, there is no written documentation of branding in this region. We observed branding on four smallholder farms in Kantale, Eastern Province to understand the welfare implications associated with the procedure and challenges limiting the uptake of more welfare-friendly alternatives, such as ear tagging. Areas of welfare concern included the duration of restraint, the size and location of the brand, and the absence of pain relief. Animals were restrained with rope for an average duration of 12 min (range 8–17 min). Farmers used multiple running irons to mark their initials and, in some cases, their address, with the largest brands extending across the ribs and hip. Three farmers applied coconut or neem oil topically to the brand after performing the procedure. No analgesics were given before or after branding. Farmers reported that poor ear tag retention in extensive systems and theft were the main factors impeding the uptake of alternative forms of identification. Branding is also practiced as part of traditional medicine in some cases. Given the clear evidence that hot-iron branding impairs animal welfare and there is no evidence that this can be improved, alternative identification methods are needed, both in Sri Lanka, as well as in other countries engaging in this practice.

The ability to spend more time resting is extremely important for dairy cattle welfare. Through this study, lying behaviour of dairy cows belonged to Up-Country (UP), Mid-Country (MC), Coconut-Triangle (CT) and Western-Province (WP) of Sri Lanka was studied to get an insight into their resting pattern. Resting pattern was assessed in 170 Holstein-Friesian/Jersey crossed, tie-stalled lactating cows (UP = 49, MC = 49, CT = 48 and WP = 24) using electronic data loggers. Proper resting behaviours were attained in UP and MC regions with longer lying time (11.7, 11.3 h/d) and lying bout durations (78.0, 84.9 min) respectively where better THI ranges were observed compared to other regions. WP and CT resulted with lower lying times (9.00, 9.26 h/d) and lying bout durations (48.3, 64.3 min) respectively with higher THI ranges. Cows in all regions prefer to lie on their left side (UP-6.1, MC-6.1, CT-4.4, WP-4.7 h/d) and was significantly differ (P < 0.05) between MC-WP, MC-CT, UP-CT and UP-WP. A negative significant (P < 0.05) correlation was observed between THI and lying behaviour of cows. Unique pattern of diurnal lying down was detected with significant effect (P < 0.05) of time (hour) and Time x Treatment interaction. More lying down was observed in late night and early morning with a peak rest around the hours of 21:00–05:00. Overall, according to the results of the current study, the existing environmental conditions of four regions affected the resting pattern of dairy cows and, identification of possible mechanisms to modify cow’s environment to enhance cow comfort is vital.