Calving Management: A Questionnaire Survey of Veterinary Subject Matter Experts and Non-Experts

Anna Lisa Voß,Wolfgang Heuwieser,Carola Fischer-Tenhagen,John F Mee

doi:10.3390/ani11113129

Abstract

Simple SummaryWe designed a questionnaire and asked two groups of veterinarians: (1) subject matter experts, who had published on calving management and (2) veterinary practitioners) for their opinion about aspects of calving management. Participants recommended to differentiate between the two stages of parturition and emphasized signs of imminent parturition, such as “restlessness” and “visibility of fetal parts”. There was no consensus on the right time to move the cow to the maternity pen. Almost half of the respondents recommended a 6-h observation interval for prepartum cows in the maternity pen. The two veterinary groups differed little in their knowledge of calving management.Accurate detection of the onset of parturition is a key factor in the prevention of dystocia. In order to establish current best practice recommendations for calving management, we asked subject matter experts (SME) who had published on calving management (by online survey, n = 80) and non-SMEs, veterinary practitioners (by workshop survey, n = 24) for their opinions. For this, we designed a questionnaire on the significance of signs of imminent parturition (SIP), the frequency of calving observation, and influencing factors for the timing of cow movement to a maternity pen. The response rate was 67.5% in the online survey and 100% in the workshop survey. The majority (89.7%) of all respondents agreed that it is beneficial for successful calving management to differentiate between stage I and II of parturition. Of 12 signs of imminent parturition (for stage I and II), “restlessness” and “visibility of fetal parts in vulva” were cited by 56.5% and 73.3% of SME and non-SME respondents, respectively. There was no consensus on the right time to move the cow to the maternity pen; recommendations varied from one to over 21 days. Almost half of the respondents (45.7%) recommended a 6-h observation interval for prepartum cows in the maternity pen. This study identified a strong consensus on the SIP and how and when to observe cows prior to parturition. SMEs and non-SMEs provided broadly similar recommendations, while the SMEs and the non-SMEs differed significantly in the number of publications on calving they authored, they differed little in their knowledge of calving management.

Highlights

Between 2 and 10% of all calves are born dead or die in the 48 h after birth [1]
Of the 54 respondents in the online survey, 14 (25.9%) viewed the first page with the introduction of the survey; another 17 (31.5%) canceled the questionnaire early in the process, 23 subject matter experts (SME) completed all of the questions
Incomplete questionnaires were included in the analysis; the data were adjusted to the respective number of participants per question

Summary

Introduction

Between 2 and 10% of all calves are born dead or die in the 48 h after birth [1]. To prevent stillbirth and consequences of dystocia and related diseases, experienced personnel is required to detect the onset of parturition [2,3]. Management of periparturient cows is a skill learned through education and experience. Diverse recommendations are made both in the scientific literature and by veterinary practitioners, for example, for the time of moving cows to maternity pens or time of intervention. Due to the wide variation between cows regarding onset and progression of external signs of parturition [4] even experienced personnel do not detect the onset of all calvings [5]. Though various monitoring devices have been developed for calving detection, visual observation of cow behavior is the most commonly adopted approach [6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion