Management Factors Associated with Calf Mortality in South Carolina Dairy Herds

Jenny, B.F.; Gramling, G.E.; Glaze, T.M.

doi:10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(81)82843-3

Cited by 60 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The risk of calf mortality in this study was similar to those reported previously (Thomas and Swann, 1973;Hartman et al, 1974;Jenny et al, 1981;James et al, 1984) but higher than the estimated mortality rate in dairy calves reported in the National Animal Health Monitoring System (Gardner et al, 1990).…”

Section: Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Associations between passive immunity and morbidity and mortality in dairy heifers in Florida, USA

Donovan

Dohoo

Montgomery

et al. 1998

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

219

171

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A prospective cohort study was undertaken to determine calf-level factors that affected calf health status between birth and 6 months of age. A convenience sample of approximately 3300 female Holstein calves born in 1991 on two large Florida dairy farms was used for the study. Data collected on each calf at birth included farm of origin, weight, height at the pelvis, birth date, and serum total protein (a measure of colostral immunoglobulin absorption). Birth season was dichotomized into summer and winter using meteorological data collected by University of Florida Agricultural Research Stations. Health data including date of initial treatment and number of treatments were collected for the diseases diarrhea, omphalitis, septicemia and pneumonia. All calves were followed for 6 months. Cumulative incidences of mortality and occurrence of diarrhea, omphalitis, septicemia and pneumonia were 0.12, 0.35, 0.11, 0.24 and 0.21, respectively. Serum total protein (TP) was a significant risk factor for mortality. The association of TP and mortality was quadratic and showed a dramatic decrease in mortality as TP increased from 4.0 to 5.0 g/dl, a small improvement from 5.0 to 6.0 g/dl and virtually no improvement in mortality rates as TP increased over 6.0 g/dl. The hazard mortality ratio was constant from birth to six months, indicating that the increased risk of mortality associated with low levels of TP was evident through six months of age. No interactions between TP, farm, season, or birth weight were found in these analyses. Serum total protein concentration was a significant risk factor for the occurrences, age of onset and severity of septicemia and pneumonia. The association between TP and septicemia was linear and an interaction with birth season was found. The association between TP and pneumonia was quadratic, and in contrast to the TP-and-septicemia relationship, the morbidity hazard ratio for pneumonia was not constant over the time measured; that is, colostral immunity protected the calf from developing pneumonia early in life, but this effect disappeared as the calf got older. Total protein was not a significant risk factor for diarrhea or omphalitis.

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Section: Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Associations between passive immunity and morbidity and mortality in dairy heifers in Florida, USA

Donovan

Dohoo

Montgomery

et al. 1998

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

219

171

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“…Within the past decade, the computerization of farm records has given researchers convenient access to larger databases. Coupled with cross-sectional mail or interview surveys, these data have served as a base for yet another group of observational studies (Speicher and Hepp, 1973;Hartman et al, 1974;Staples and Haugse, 1974;Bowman et al, 1977;Jenney et al, 1981;Simensen, 1982).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dairy calf management, morbidity and mortality in Ontario Holstein herds. I. The data

Waltner-Toews

Martin

Meek

et al. 1986

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Waltner-Toews, D., Martin, S.W., Meek, A.H. and McMillan, I., 1986. Dairy calf management, morbidity and mortality in Ontario Holstein herds. I. The Data. Prey. Vet. Med., Heifer calf management practices and clinical outcomes were studied on 104 randomly selected Holstein dairy farms in southwestern Ontario between October 1980 and July 1983. Data were collected at both the farm level (all farms) and the individual calf level (1968 calves, 35 farms).Farm-level management data were collected by means of questionnaires and farm visits. Calf-level management data were recorded by farmers on forms provided. Treatments for disease and mortality data were recorded by the farmers on the calves up to the age of weaning, the age at which calves were no longer fed milk or milk substitutes on a regular basis.Farm size ranged from 23 to 154 calvings per year. Farm-level'mortality rates per sixmonth season (winter/summer) were skewed, with a mean of about 6%, a median of zero, and a range of 67%. Morbidity rates were similarly skewed. Four percent of liveborn heifer calves died, 20% were treated for scours, and 15% were treated for pneumonia before the age of weaning.Stated farm policies on calf rearing were implemented to varying degrees on different farms, as estimated from individual calf data. This posed particular problems for interpreting farm-level data, since the danger of committing an ecologic fallacy was high. The data set described in this paper formed the basis for an observational study of the interrelationships of heifer calf management and clinical outcomes.

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“…In a study on a dairy farm it had been reported that such factors affect farm performance to greater or equal degree to other management variables (Tarabla and Dodd 1990). Jenney et al (1981) found lower calf mortality when owners care for calves instead of hired labor. In the present study, the failure to detect significant difference may be due to the fact that the activities of hired caregivers were under close supervision of the owners.…”

Section: Risk Factorsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Calf morbidity and mortality in smallholder dairy farms in Ada’a Liben district of Oromia, Ethiopia

Wudu

Kelay

Mekonnen

et al. 2007

Trop Anim Health Prod

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A longitudinal observational study on calf morbidity and mortality was conducted in smallholder dairy farms in Ada'a Liben district of Oromia, Ethiopia. A total of 185 calves from 112 market oriented smallholder dairy farms were selected randomly and regularly monitored for clinical health problems up to six months of age. Information on potential risk factors was collected by personal observation during the regular visit to farms and from questionnaire survey conducted during the study period. The overall incidences of crude morbidity and crude mortality were 62% and 22%, respectively. The most frequent disease syndrome was calf diarrhea with the incidence of 39% followed by joint ill 6%. The other disease conditions/syndromes diagnosed include navel ill, pneumonia, septicemic conditions, congenital problems and miscellaneous cases. Age of the calves, age at first colostrum ingestion and cleanness of the calf barns significantly influenced morbidity. Older calves (greater than three months of age) were at lower risk of crude morbidity than younger calves (less than three months of age) (HR = 0.42, P = 0.001). Higher risk of crude morbidity was observed in calves that ingested their first colostrum meal later than 6 hours of age compared to those that ingested colostrum earlier (HR = 2.24, P = 0.001). Similarly, calves housed in unclean barns were at higher risk of morbidity than calves housed in clean barns (HR = 1.75, P = 0.024). Of the 20 potential risk factors investigated, age was the only factor that was found significantly associated with mortality (HR = 0.04, P = 0.001). Calves older than three months of age were at lower risk of mortality than younger calves.

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Management Factors Associated with Calf Mortality in South Carolina Dairy Herds

Cited by 60 publications

References 4 publications

Associations between passive immunity and morbidity and mortality in dairy heifers in Florida, USA

Associations between passive immunity and morbidity and mortality in dairy heifers in Florida, USA

Dairy calf management, morbidity and mortality in Ontario Holstein herds. I. The data

Calf morbidity and mortality in smallholder dairy farms in Ada’a Liben district of Oromia, Ethiopia

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