Teat Injuries Research Articles

A three year herd health and management program on thirty Dutch dairy farms. II. Culling strategy and losses caused by forced replacement of dairy cows.

Cows are culled at a relatively low age, which causes considerable economic loss. The annual culling rate in the Netherlands has increased from 18.8 per cent in 1951 to 25-30 per cent of the average number of cows in more recent years. The productive life is now about 3.5 years. On the thirty farms of the program group and thirty-one farms of the control group, the main reasons for culling were reproductive failure followed by mastitis and teat injuries. About 60 per cent of culling was due to health problems, the other 40 per cent to low productive capacity, old age, poor workability etc. The annual culling rate varied per farm per year but also per month. The moment of culling in the current lactation, the slaughter value and the age differed per reason. The calculated loss of forced replacement consists of reduction in both production prior to culling and slaughter value. Additionally, there is an idle production period due to lack of an immediate replacement. The biggest loss is caused by lost future income. There was a considerable difference per farm in the loss caused by culling for health problems. A low culling rate due to health problems was associated with longer longevity and a relatively lower loss. Tangible effects due to changes in the farm culling policy may not be evident for some years. The reduction in loss of culling in the program farms compared with the controls was small because the duration (2 1/2 years) of the herd health and management program was too short.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Clinical aspects of coliform mastitis in the bovine.

In 1979, 209 cows from 2742 patients in the clinic for obstetrics and gynecology suffered from coliform mastitis. Most of these animals had been sent to the clinic because of a general or local infectious disease, a delayed birth or a teat injury. Coliform mastitis developed secondarily. Only 12 animals (6%) had solely a mastitis and no other clinically recognisable disease. Most of them showed a secondary acetonemia (ketosis). The connection between hypoglycemia, disturbance of the body's own defense mechanism and development of a coliform mastitis is discussed. The frequent occurrence of coliform mastitis in dairy herds with sawdust bedding is not directly attributed to a coliform contamination of the bedding but indirectly to a lack of crude fibre content in the diet which results in a subclinical ketosis and a dysfunction of the leucocytic defense. Coliform mastitis predominantly is not a hygienic but a management problem.

Udder diseases in dairy cows — field observations on incidence, somatic and environmental factors, and control

The incidence of udder diseases and the predisposing factors were examined in 32 herds, in a total of 500 cows. During a 3-year-period 0.32 cases of clinical mastitis occurred per cow per annum. Subclinical mastitis was detected in 61.2 % of the cows during one year. The average incidence based on a single sampling was 36.5 %. In order to obtain reliable information on the udder health of a herd the occurrence of both clinical and subclinical mastitis must be followed. Clinical cases, both those treated by a veterinarian on a farm visit and those treated by the owner according to phone prescription must be filed statistically. In this study the incidence of mastitis as reported by owner was only half of that actually detected. The incidence of teat injuries requiring veterinary treatment was 0.03 cases per cow per annum. The diagnosis »presence of bacteria» obtained from a milk sample examination using Nordic methods means according to this study in most cases the probable occurrence of infection and mastitis. Scoring of observations made from udder health, and indexes based on these scores prove to be good tools when studying relationships between udder diseases and predisposing factors. Of the somatic factors the age of the cow, stage of lactation, the distance of the rear teats from the stall floor and the position of the teats influence the incidence of mastitis. Therefore, these factors must be taken into consideration in preventive work, especially in the culling of cows. Neither teat shape nor milkability had any connection with the incidence of udder diseases. With regard to the factors in the production environment the incidence of clinical mastitis was influenced especially by the function of the milking machine. Diurnal changes in temperature, when exceeding5 degrees centigrade, increased the occurrence of mastitis. The use of a thermohygrograph is proposed in preventive work. Because of the small number of the herds only in few cases reliable proof could be obtained as to whether the constructional details of the cowshed or stall or the milking hygiene had any effect on udder health. The observations made, however, were not in disagreement with those findings published in other Nordic countries. The significance of the cattle tender as an environmental factor is great. When a mastitis control programme is worked out, therefore, the mastitis situation in a herd, and the predisposing factors detected on the farm must be reliably demonstrated to the owner and the measures required for improvement must be clearly proposed.

Teat Sinus Vacua at Different Milking Machine Vacua and Pulsator Ratios

Nine quarters of three cows were used in measuring maximum and residual teat sinus vacua after the end of milk flow at four milking vacuum levels and two pulsator ratios. The increase in maximum and residual teat sinus vacua was nearly linear from 250 to 400mm Hg milking vacuum. Between 400 and 500mm Hg milking vacuum, the increase in maximum teat sinus vacuum was nonlinear and increased rapidly. Congestion of the teat end and signs of discomfort to the cow were observed when the milking vacuum was 500mm Hg. From results of this study, it would appear that a stable milking vacuum above 400mm Hg should be avoided, because of excessive teat sinus vacuum and possible teat injury.