Risk and success factors for good udder health of early lactation primiparous dairy cows

Waller, Karin Persson; Lundberg, Åsa; Nyman, Ann-Kristin

doi:10.3168/jds.2020-19683

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…The overall binary disease occurrence was 65.3% from weaning to the end of first lactation, with 38.8% of these heifers experiencing multiple different disease events. This disease prevalence was high, with Persson Waller [ 65 ] reporting an annual mean incidence rate per 100 cow-days of veterinary-treated diseases in heifers of only 22.7 (SD 14.8). Although a high disease level was not associated with any of the measured variables, the heifers went through many changes in groups, facilities and diets during their rearing process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Individual and Pair Housing of Calves on Long-Term Heifer Production on a UK Commercial Dairy Farm

Mahendran,

Wathes,

Booth

et al. 2023

Animals

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Pair housing of pre-weaning dairy calves has previously demonstrated positive impacts on their growth, health and behaviour, but longer-term effects on production are still relatively unknown. This study followed a cohort of 431 Holstein heifers, recruited from a single UK commercial dairy farm, from weaning until either culling or the end of their first lactation. All animals were allocated to either individual or pair housing as a pre-weaning calf. Following weaning, all heifers were similarly managed through group housing, feeding with total mixed rations, the use of automatic heat detection for artificial insemination and weighing every two months until conception. Farm staff identified disease occurrences, which were treated following standard operating procedures. First-lactation monthly milk recording was used to measure milk yields and somatic cell counts. Overall mortality (voluntary and involuntary) was 26.6%, with a decreased hazard of exiting the herd if the heifer was pair housed as a calf (HR 0.70; p = 0.067). The voluntary cull rate was highest in the post-insemination period (13.0%) due to poor fertility. Heifers that were pair housed as calves had significantly increased odds of developing udder health issues as a primiparous cow (OR = 1.93, p = 0.022). Despite this, the 305-day milk yields were not associated with the housing group. However, the total milk produced per calf recruited into the original study was greater for pair-housed compared with individually housed calves (8088 kg vs. 7115 kg; p = 0.071), which is likely due to the significantly higher hazard of individually housed calves exiting the herd prematurely.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Individual and Pair Housing of Calves on Long-Term Heifer Production on a UK Commercial Dairy Farm

Mahendran,

Wathes,

Booth

et al. 2023

Animals

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“…This is in agreement with Nitz et al [ 6 ]. Other studies found the following risk factors for the time prior to calving: loose-housing systems during pregnancy, juvenile inter-sucking, organic bedding material prior to calving [ 22 ], open teat canal prior to calving [ 15 ], BMSCC, milking system, culling rate due to udder health disorders, and having a standard operating procedure for colostrum feeding of calves [ 42 ]. Management practices, either related to the pre- or post-partum period, can be key factors in mastitis control programs on dairy farms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management-Associated Risk Factors for Heifer Mastitis before and after Parturition in German Dairy Herds

Rueben

Seeth

Tellen

et al. 2023

Veterinary Sciences

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Subclinical mastitis in heifers during early lactation affects udder health, future milk production and, therefore, the risk of premature culling. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify pre- and post-partum risk factors associated with a high heifer mastitis rate (HMR), and to find out which period (either pre- or post-partum) contains more risk factors and consequently should be the focus of mastitis control in heifers. A total of 77 herds were included in this study and the potential animal- and farm-related risk factors were recorded during a one-time farm visit. The HMR was provided by the dairy herd improvement test (DHI) as the annual average of the past 11 DHIs. For this study, data were analyzed in two models using generalized linear models. Each model examined the association between possible risk factors and HMR, one including only prepartum risk factors and the other one only post-partum risk factors. One identified pre-partum risk factor was the proportion of udder-healthy cows in the herd. Post-partum risk factors were the type of teat cleaning procedure before milking, teat disinfection, treatment of mastitis in heifers, a body condition score (BCS) of >3.0 in fresh heifers, and the combination of a teat cleaning procedure with a teat disinfectant. The results show the importance of the period shortly after calving for udder health in heifers, as four of the five significant risk factors were identified in this period and three of them were related to the milking process. However, further research with a higher number of herds is needed to minimize individual herd effects.

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“…According to the International Dairy Federation ( IDF, 2011 ), “early lactation” comprises the first 100 d of a cow's lactation. Persson Waller et al (2021) reported that while mastitis is more common in older cows, a substantial proportion of lactation 1 cows also experience mastitis in the early stages of lactation. De Vliegher et al (2012) reported that CM incidence in the first week of lactation was higher in lactation 1 cows than in older cows in New Zealand.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of pathogen-specific clinical mastitis occurrence in the first 100 days of lactation 1 on future mastitis occurrence in Holstein dairy cows: An observational study

et al. 2023

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Graphical Abstract Summary: This study estimated the effects of pathogen-specific clinical mastitis (CM) occurring in the first 100 days of lactation 1 on the future occurrence of pathogen-specific CM in 14,440 Holstein cows in 5 New York herds. Cows were followed from lactation 1 calving date until death or sale. Generalized linear mixed models were fit. Clinical mastitis cases due to Escherichia coli or with no growth in the first 100 days were the most important predictors of future occurrence of pathogen-specific CM. The findings may help farmers foretell which cows that have CM in early productive life may have future cases.

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Risk and success factors for good udder health of early lactation primiparous dairy cows

Cited by 9 publications

References 37 publications

Effects of the Individual and Pair Housing of Calves on Long-Term Heifer Production on a UK Commercial Dairy Farm

Effects of the Individual and Pair Housing of Calves on Long-Term Heifer Production on a UK Commercial Dairy Farm

Management-Associated Risk Factors for Heifer Mastitis before and after Parturition in German Dairy Herds

Effects of pathogen-specific clinical mastitis occurrence in the first 100 days of lactation 1 on future mastitis occurrence in Holstein dairy cows: An observational study

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