Identifying housing and management factors associated with lameness in small-scaled mountain dairy farms with different housing systems

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify farm-level factors associated with the prevalence of lameness in dairy cows kept in small scale mountain dairy farms. The study population included 1 891 dairy cows (1 069 cows housed in the free stalls and 822 in tie stalls) reared on 204 farms (111 free stalls and 93 tie stalls) in the Alpine region of South Tyrol (Northern Italy). The prevalence of animals showing moderate lameness or severe lameness in tie stalls was 7.8% and 13.9% and for animals housed in free stalls was 5.7% and 11.3%, respectively. A higher prevalence of moderate lameness in free stalls was associated with the use of sawdust bedding (odds ratio (OR) = 2.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.73–3.89) compared to sand bedding and a lower prevalence with herd size (OR = 0.61; CI = 0.42–0.99, for a 5-cow increase), access to pasture (OR = 0.88; CI = 0.65–0.97) and lime-straw-water bedding (OR =0.63; CI = 0.56–0.89). A higher prevalence of severe lameness in free stalls was associated with the use of wood plates as lying area surface (OR = 2.33; CI = 2.11–2.61) and a lower with the use of rubber mats (OR = 0.22; CI = 0.14–0.46), sand bedding (OR = 0.54; CI =0.41–0.91) and herd size (OR = 0.38; CI = 0.27–0.77, for a 15-cow increase). Furthermore, the results in tie stall farms revealed that a higher prevalence of moderate lameness was associated with the use of sawdust bedding (OR = 1.99; CI) = 1.4–2.66) and herd size (OR = 1.96; CI = 1.41–2.51, for a 5-cow increase), and a lower prevalence with access to pasture (OR = 0.29; CI = 0.22–0.5), increased lying area dimension (OR =0.67; CI = 0.44–0.89) and lime-straw-water bedding (OR=0.22; CI=0.11–0.74). A higher prevalence of severe lameness in tie stalls was associated with the use of wood plates as lying area surface (OR = 3.19; CI = 2.66–4.15) and herd size (OR = 2.14; CI = 1.97–2.87, for a 5-cow increase), and a lower prevalence was associated with the use of rubber mats (OR = 0.37; CI = 0.19–0.61), sand bedding (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.21–0.82) and increased lying area dimension (OR = 0.77; CI = 0.55–0.99). In conclusion, the present findings should provide important insights into housing and management practices relevant to subsequent causal cow-level studies of animal health and welfare in small-scale mountain dairy farms.