Management factors affecting udder health and effects of a one year extension program in organic dairy herds

Human animal relationships in Bos indicus cattle breeds addressed from a Five Domains welfare framework

The present review has two objectives, the first is to investigate the differences in temperament between Bos indicus and Bos taurus breeds and determining the effects on production due to positive treatment and to compare this with negative HAR, by using the Five Domain Model as framework. The second objective is to discuss potential strategies to achieve better HAR when working with Bos indicus cattle. Bos indicus are more reactive and temperamental than Bos taurus cattle. When human animal relationships (HAR) are evaluated, Bos indicus cattle may react with greater intensity. They may be more likely to develop a negative emotional state, especially in extensively raised Bos indicus cattle that are handled only a few times each year. Bos indicus cattle can have positive emotional states when they have frequent positive interactions with people. Interactions with people, both positive and negative, would be in the fourth Domain of the Five Domains model. Cattle that are more reactive during handling may also have lower weight gain, even when they have abundant feed. This would be in the first Domain of Nutrition. When cattle are handled in races and corrals, injuries may be more likely to occur. Injuries and bruises would be in the third Domain of Health. Injuries could be caused by either poor handling practices by people or poor handling facilities. Yelling or electric prod use would be examples of poor HAR. Second Environmental Domain issues may be broken facilities or slick, slippery floors that are associated with falls.

Udder health, conceptual construct, and uses of the term: A systematic review from 1962 to 2019

Background and Aim:

Udder health management is essential for the further development of milk production systems and public health. This process depends on the generation of knowledge regarding control, prevention, and promotion of health. In scientific literature, it is impossible to find a synthesis of the categories that would allow comprehension of the complex phenomenon udder health. Different research approaches have allowed this polysemic concept, described by some researchers as multifactorial and by philosophical perspectives as a social phenomenon, to be further studied. Thus, the objective of this systematic review was to systematize the conceptual categories of udder health and the use of the term in the original articles published in the scientific literature from the period 1962 to 2019.

Materials and Methods:

A systematic review with a broad approach was designed by applying the phases of identification, screening, selection, and inclusion criteria described in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes guide. An exhaustive search of original articles by specificity was carried out in the Science Direct, PubMed, Scielo, LILACS, and Google Scholar databases. The investigation was carried out on November 22, 2019. According to the inclusion criteria established, articles needed to be original studies, to be publications on bovine livestock, written in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Furthermore, the articles considered needed to tackle the term udder health so that its conceptual categorization could be extracted. Google Scholar patents and citations and articles removed from databases or not available were excluded from the study and those that, based on the reading of the complete text, considered the farming of animal species other than bovine. A qualitative synthesis of the year of publication, continent, approach, type of study, and conceptual category of udder health was carried out by calculating frequencies (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 24).

Results:

In total, 165 articles were included in the study. Eight conceptual categories, consolidated over time, were systematized, showing that udder health is not a static problem, and that science has been responding through the generation of new knowledge around conceptual categories as different udder health problems emerge.

Conclusion:

Culture and politics were two categories, related to all the others, that stood out in the results. These two categories were of great interest in countries advanced in milk production and in the implementation of udder health policies, which acknowledge the producer and other actors of the production chain as fundamental political actors for policies, decision-making processes, and public health care to be effective. The lack of synonyms for the term udder health (e.g., mastitis) may have led to the exclusion of important articles in each category. However, the constriction to the term udder health was intentional and aimed at constructing the concept. Udder health is hereby understood as a health-disease process, different from the term mastitis, which from its semantic origin, refers only to the disease process. According to this study, the concept can be understood through the categories of traditional epidemiology based on risk factors and disease; microbiology; genetics, resistance, and immunity; animal welfare; nutrition; organic production; culture; and politics.

An investigation of dairy calf management practices, colostrum quality, failure of transfer of passive immunity, and occurrence of enteropathogens among Australian dairy farms

Calf preweaning morbidity and mortality risks have been reported as high in several countries, with average values approximating 35 and 7%, respectively. However, limited data are available for calf morbidity and mortality risks on Australian dairy farms. The aims of this study were (1) to investigate current calf management practices on dairy farms in Australia and their association with herd-level morbidity and mortality using a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study; and (2) to estimate the prevalence of common enteropathogens causing diarrhea, the failure of passive transfer of immunity, and poor colostrum quality in a sample of Australian dairy farms. We analyzed 106 completed questionnaires and samples from 23 farms (202 fecal, 253 calf serum, and 221 colostrum samples). Morbidity and mortality risks reported by farmers in preweaned heifers were 23.8 and 5.6%, respectively. These risks were above the Australian dairy industry targets in 75.5 and 66.7% of respondents. The zoonotic pathogens Cryptosporidium spp. and Salmonella spp. were the most prevalent enteropathogens, with a true prevalence of 40.9 and 25.2%, respectively. Salmonella O-group D was present in 67.9% of Salmonella-positive samples, followed by O-groups B (17.9%) and C (10.7%). Failure of transfer of passive immunity (IgG <10 g/L) was observed in 41.9% of calves (mean herd-level prevalence of 36.2%), and only 19.5% of colostrum samples met the standards for immunoglobulin content and microbiological quality. Collectively, these data indicate that there is still considerable room for improvement in calf-rearing practices on Australian dairy farms, particularly with regard to colostrum management and feeding hygiene.

[Einfluss eines komplementärmedizinischen telefonischen Beratungssystems auf den Antibiotikaeinsatz bei Nutztieren in der Schweiz]

Hintergrund: Der Antibiotikaeinsatz bei Nutztieren fördert die Entwicklung antibiotikaresistenter Bakterien. Die Komplementärmedizin könnte einen Beitrag zur Reduktion von Antibiotika leisten, wird bisher jedoch nicht flächendeckend angeboten. Das Beratungsprogramm "Kometian" unter-stützt teilnehmende Landwirte darin, ihre Tiere komplementärmedizinisch zu behandeln. Methoden und Resultate: 128 von 223 teilnehmenden Betrieben nutzten in den ersten 3 Projektjahren die telefonische Beratung von Kometian. Die Mehrheit der Landwirte hielt Milchkühe. Frühestens 1 Woche nach der Kometianberatung wurde eine telefonische Nachfrage beim Tierbesitzer hinsichtlich des Gesundheitszustandes des Tieres durchgeführt. Es konnten so 661 Beratungsfälle recherchiert werden. In 486 Fällen erfolgte keine weitere schulmedizinische Behandlung, in 373 Fällen gab der Landwirt einen Behandlungserfolg an. Von 188 angefragten und seit mindestens einem Jahr an Kometian teilnehmenden Betrieben stellten 46 ihre Behandlungsjournale zur Verfügung. Die betriebliche antibiotische Behandlungsinzidenz sank signifikant (p < 0,001) von 27 vor Beitritt auf 18 Behandlungen pro 100 Tiere im ersten Jahr. Schlussfolgerung: Es scheint, dass Kometian einen Beitrag dazu leisten konnte, den Antibiotikaeinsatz auf Betriebsebene zu reduzieren.

BACKGROUND

A regular use of antibiotics in farm animals is assumed to induce antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) may contribute to a reduction of antibiotic use but it is not extensively offered by Swiss veterinarians. The advisory program “Kometian” supports farmers in treating their animals with CAM.

METHODS AND RESULTS

128 out of 223 participating farmers used the telephone consultations of Kometian in the first 3 years of the project. The majority of the farmers kept dairy cattle. No sooner than 1 week after such a consultation, the famer was questioned by phone about the health progress of the animal. Thus, the development of health could be verified in 661 cases (of 714). 486 cases were not treated further by conventional medicine; in 373 cases the farmer reported a positive treatment effect. Of 188 examined farms, which had participated in the advisory program for at least 1 year, 46 made their treatment records available. The incidence of antibiotic treatment decreased significantly (p < 0.001) from 27 before entering the program to 18 treatments per 100 animals in the first year.

CONCLUSION

It seems that the advisory program Kometian could contribute to reduce the use of antibiotics on the farm level.

The influence of the rearing period on intramammary infections in Swiss dairy heifers: A cross-sectional study

Healthy replacement heifers are one of the foundations of a healthy dairy herd. Farm management and rearing systems in Switzerland provide a wide variety of factors that could potentially be associated with intramammary infections (IMI) in early lactating dairy heifers. In this study, IMI with minor mastitis pathogens such as coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), contagious pathogens, and environmental major pathogens were identified. Fifty-four dairy farms were enrolled in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect herd level data on housing, management and welfare of young stock during farm visits and interviews with the farmers. Cow-level data such as breed, age at first calving, udder condition and swelling, and calving ease were also recorded. Data was also collected about young stock that spent a period of at least 3 months on an external rearing farm or on a seasonal alpine farm. At the quarter level, teat conditions such as teat lesions, teat dysfunction, presence of a papilloma and teat length were recorded. Within 24h after parturition, samples of colostral milk from 1564 quarters (391 heifers) were collected aseptically for bacterial culture. Positive bacteriological culture results were found in 49% of quarter samples. Potential risk factors for IMI were identified at the quarter, animal and herd level using multivariable and multilevel logistic regression analysis. At the herd level tie-stalls, and at cow-level the breed category "Brown cattle" were risk factors for IMI caused by contagious major pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). At the quarter-level, teat swelling and teat lesions were highly associated with IMI caused by environmental major pathogens. At the herd level heifer rearing at external farms was associated with less IMI caused by major environmental pathogens. Keeping pregnant heifers in a separate group was negatively associated with IMI caused by CNS. The odds of IMI with coagulase-negative staphylococci increased if weaning age was less than 4 months and if concentrates were fed to calves younger than 2 weeks. This study identified herd, cow- and quarter-level risk factors that may be important for IMI prevention in the future.

Application of the Welfare Quality® assessment system on European beef bull farms

Welfare concerns for intensive beef production have often been raised, but on-farm welfare assessment studies are rare. The aim of this study was to apply the Welfare Quality® (WQ) welfare assessment system for fattening cattle on beef bull farms to evaluate the state of welfare at the level of WQ measures and of aggregated scores, as well as overall classification. In addition, the purpose was to evaluate two ways of providing feedback information to the farmers with regard to possible welfare improvements on the farms. The study was conducted in Austria, Germany and Italy on a total of 63 beef bull farms with deep litter or cubicle-housing systems. Assessments were carried out 3 times (1 month and 7 months apart from the initial visit). In every country, farmers were assigned to two treatment groups (feedback from initial visit as written report, F, written feedback plus oral advice, FA) and a control group (C), which did not receive any feedback. At the criterion level, the highest average welfare scores were obtained from 'Absence of prolonged hunger' (94/100 points) followed by 'Absence of pain induced by management procedures' (88/100) and 'Comfort around resting' (77/100). Most welfare concerns related to the criteria 'Absence of disease' (40/100), 'Expression of social behaviour' (44/100) and 'Positive emotional state' (48/100), thus indicating room for improvements. Two-thirds of the farms achieved the 'Enhanced' level, about one-third was judged 'Acceptable' and only one farm 'Excellent'. After 6 months of monitoring period, there was no significant welfare improvement in both the treatment groups as compared with the control group. Reasons for the lack of effect may mainly be seen in the short monitoring period and a lack of external incentives. In conclusion, the WQ assessment system revealed areas for improvement, but longer term studies and investigations on alternative ways of transferring outcomes from on-farm welfare assessments to farmers should be carried out in future.

Feeding mastitis milk to organic dairy calves: effect on health and performance during suckling and on udder health at first calving

Background

Infection pathways of S. aureus udder infections in heifers are still not well understood. One hypothesis is that calves become infected with S. aureus via feeding mastitis milk. Especially on small-scale farms, pasteurisers are not economic. The purpose of this randomised comparative study was to investigate the influence of feeding milk containing S. aureus genotype B (SAGTB) on the health and development of calves and udder health of the respective heifers. Additionally, a method reducing the bacterial load to obtain safer feeding milk was tested. Thirty-four calves were fed mastitis milk from cows with subclinical SAGTB mastitis. One group was fed untreated milk (UMG). For the other group, milk was thermised at 61°C for one minute (heat treated milk group = HMG). After weaning, calves were followed up until first calving. A milk sample of these heifers was taken at first milking to compare udder health of both groups.

Results

Thermisation of milk led to an effective reduction of S. aureus in the feeding milk. 78% of the analysed pools were free of S. aureus, a reduction of at least one log was obtained in the other pools.

Quarter milk samples revealed that two heifers had a S. aureus intramammary infection, but caused by a genotype different from genotype B.

During the suckling period, the UMG had a significantly higher incidence rate of 1.09 diarrhoea cases per 100 calf days at risk compared to 0.26 cases per 100 calf days in the HMG (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Under the conditions of this study, no effects of feeding milk containing SAGTB on udder health after first calving were observed. But a power analysis indicated that the sample size in the current setup is insufficient to allow for assessment on mastitis risk after SAGTB exposition, as a minimal number of 4 calves infected (vs. 0 in the HMG) would have shown significant effects. High bacterial load, however, was associated with an increased incidence rate of diarrhoea. Thus, thermisation as a minimal preventive measure before feeding mastitis milk to calves might be beneficial for maintaining calf health.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-014-0267-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Strategies used by dairy family farmers in the south of Brazil to comply with organic regulations

The aims of this study were to investigate the environmental, feeding, and health management of organic (ORG) family dairy farms in the south of Brazil in comparison with conventional (CONV) farms, and to assess their degree of compliance with Brazilian organic legislation and the strategies they adopt to accomplish this (n=17 per group). During 2 visits to each farm in March and September, 2010, observations were made on the environment, feed, and health management, followed by bulk milk testing, clinical evaluation, and breed assessment of each individual cow, and an evaluation of diseases and treatments reported within the period. Additional data were collected directly from the farmers through direct interviews. The number of lactating cows was, on average, 11 (range 5 to 19) in the ORG and 16 (range 7 to 42) in the CONV herds. The ORG herds presented a lower percentage of the Holstein breed; whereas CONV herds were predominantly Holstein, in the ORG herds, only 2 herds were 100% Holstein and the remaining herds were crosses of Holstein, Jersey, and Gir (Bos indicus) cattle. Milk production per cow was lower (10.2 vs. 15.1 ± 1.22 L/cow, respectively) in ORG than in the CONV farms. The ORG farms offered less concentrate feed than CONV farms and had better pasture management. Organic farmers reported using phytotherapic and homeopathic products, and pasture management as a strategy to keep infection levels of endo- and ectoparasites low, whereas CONV farmers regularly used anthelmintics and acaricides. Milk production was lower in ORG than in CONV farms, but cow health and condition scores were broadly similar, indicating that the with these strategies ORG farms were able to secure levels of animal welfare comparable with CONV farms while complying with organic regulation, although at the cost of lower cow productivity.

The concept of animal welfare at the interface between producers and scientists: the example of organic pig farming

In organic farming animal welfare is one important aspect included in the internationally agreed organic principles of health, ecology, fairness and care (IFOAM 2006), reflecting expectation of consumers and farmers. The definition of organic animal welfare includes-besides traditional terms of animal welfare-'regeneration' and 'naturalness'. Organic animal welfare assessment needs to reflect this and use complex parameters, include natural behaviour and a systemic view. Furthermore, various parties with seemingly conflicting interests are involved, causing ethical dilemmas, such as the use of nose rings for outdoor sows (impaired animal welfare vs. destruction of humus). Solutions can only be found when foundational concepts are translated and applied to practical situations. On-farm animal welfare assessment and implementation of improvement strategies are increasingly relevant scientific areas. They combine on-farm welfare assessment, identification of key problem areas and connected risk factors. Constant communication between all parties is crucial for success. Animal health and welfare planning is one application of this approach, which was carried out on Austrian organic pig farms as well as organic dairy farms in seven European countries. The projects included welfare assessment, feedback and benchmarking as a tool for communication between farmers, advisors and scientists. Finally goals were set by the farmer and improvement strategies applicable to organic farming were implemented. This included prevention of disease by management strategies instead of routine treatment with pharmaceutical products. It appeared that next to problem structuring, multidisciplinary problem solving demands good communications skills to relate animal welfare science to value reflections.