ANIMAL HEALTH AND WELFARE: CATTLE
Animal welfare is important to us and we want to make sure animals have good living conditions. Almost all the Finnish cattle farms in our contract production are part of the bovine health monitoring system Naseva (ISO 9001 certified). Our contract production farms are committed to following HKFoods guidelines, in addition to the regulations set by the EU and national laws and regulations.
Animal welfare based on good care
Cattle are intelligent and social animals that spend the majority of their time eating, ruminating and resting. Cattle form close friendships and follow a precise hierarchy. Despite their gregarious nature, cows also need peace and quiet. Adult cows rest for 11–13 hours a day. Their resting places must be soft, spacious and peaceful, with good air conditioning. There must also be a sufficient number of peaceful feeding and drinking places for the entire herd.
Beef cattle are raised in cowsheds and loose barns as well as in pens and pastures. Calves bred for the purposes of pedigree cattle production are born on suckler cow farms, where they graze with their mothers up to an age of approximately six months. After this, the calves are relocated to specialised rearing farms or remain at their birth farm.