Oral and Poster Abstracts

28 Preliminary Results of a General Health Monitoring System
for Cattle in Austria
W. Obritzhauser 1 , C. Egger-Danner 2 , B. Grassauer 1 , W. Holzhacker 1 ,
P. Winter 3
1
Chamber of Veterinaries, Vienna, Austria
2
ZuchtData EDV-Dienstleistungen GMBH, Vienna, Austria
3
University of Veterinary Medicine, Clinic for ruminants, Vienna,
Austria
A project to establish an Austrian wide health monitoring system for
cattle is currently being implemented. An overall aim of the project is
the development of a genetic evaluation for health traits for the main
Austrian cattle breeds. Within the project diagnostic data, which have
to be documented by law by the veterinarian (law of drug control) are
standardised and recorded into a central database. All farms under
performance recording are free to join the project. Responding to an
increasing interest in health issues, already 10,500 farms have been
participating by the beginning of the year 2008 with more farms
continuously joining. To increase the health status of the animals by
management measures health reports are elaborated and provided to
farmers and veterinarians. Validated diagnostic data provided by
veterinarians who are joining the project from the beginning and
delivering complete data sets are included in the study. In total,
recorded diagnostic data from 556 dairy farms (average farm size 20.9
cows) can be evaluated. The main problems in dairy farms are caused
by reproduction diseases and mastitis, which require intervention by
the veterinarian. The average calving interval of the farms included is
398 days. In case of mastitis the average somatic cell counts in
primiparous cows are 117.000 cells per ml and in multiparous cows (2
lactations) 216.000 cells per ml, respectively. First experiences show
that many diagnostic data are recorded in farms at a very early stage of
disease. The monthly provided health reports support successful and
economical farm management and are important tools for a good
cooperation between farmers and veterinarians.
Key words: health monitoring, health reports, farm management
58 A Contrast of Management Practices in Beef Herds with High
versus Low Conception Rates
C. Heuer 1 , D. West 2 , G. Tattersfield 2 , R. Jackson 1
1 Massey University, EpiCentre, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2 Massey University, Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical
Sciences, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Objectives of study: The study aimed to identify associations between
management practices and pregnancy rates of beef cattle herds in New
Zealand.
Materials and Methods: Veterinary practices with beef cattle clients
were contacted to provide records of pregnancy testing in two
subsequent years (2005-06). A questionnaire was subsequently mailed
to all participating farmers inquiring information about the
management of beef cow fertility. This information was regressed on
the proportion of cows pregnant 1-2 months after the end of mating
using multi-factorial logistic regression adjusting for the possible
confounding effects of herd size, farm surface area, stocking rate, and
region.
Results: Pregnancy data were available from 1217 farms from across all
regions and agro-ecological zones of New Zealand. From 718 (59%)
questionnaires that were returned, 150 were excluded because they had
changed locations or given-up-farming, but also for insufficient data
entry. The remaining 568 (47%) farms were included in the final analyses.
Safety and topography of calving paddocks was identified as an influential
risk factor for conception rates. Too few labour units had negative effects
on fertility but while this outcome is highly plausible, it does not easily
translate into a realistic solution. Farmers not using a mating ability test of
service bulls (70%) achieved similar pregnancy rates but purchased more
breeding bulls relative to herd size. A ratio of more than 50 cows per
breeding bull was associated with declining pregnancy rates. Pregnancy
rates in herds with pure Hereford, Angus and their crossbreeds were 3-6%
lower than herds with other or mixed breeds. Feed restriction in late
pregnancy in all ages but especially in heifers was associated with lower
pregnancy. Temperament of breeding bulls was an indicator of high
fertility and that The data suggested that culling bulls with -bad
temperament- would reduce beef cow fertility.
Conclusions: The study provided insight into management practices
associated with higher pregnancy rates. These were related to safety of
150 XXV. Jubilee World Buiatrics Congress 2008
pastures, breed, nutrition and the use of a mating ability test for
breeding bulls.
Key words: beef cattle fertility, management, cross-sectional study
59 Comparison in Swiss Dairy Farms with and without a Herd
Health Program
M. Hassig 1 , D. Kemper-Gisler 1 , A. Liesegang 2 , U. Braun 1
1
Vetsuisse-Faculty Zurich, Department of Large animal clinical
Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
2
Vetsuisse-Faculty Zurich, Department of Physiology, Zurich,
Switzerland
The goal of this retrospective study was to compare Swiss dairy farms
with and without a herd health program by means of really invested
money. The major goal was to improve fertility. Over seven years from
1999 to 2005, matching 11 farms with and 11 farms without a herd
health program were evaluated. All farms were visited on a regular
basis by the ambulatory field clinic of the Vetsuisse-faculty of the
University of Zurich. All actions were registered by Oblon Data and
analyzed by StatView 5.1 by means of analysis of variance with
repeated measures. About 130000 records were analyzed. This study
showed that dairy farms with a herd health program spent less money
per animal per year than farms without herd health program. The
money spent for routine visits as well as emergency visits was not
different. Also the money spent for medication did not differ. The costs
for veterinary work alone did not alter between dairy farms with and
without a herd health program. It was not possible to prove a financial
advantage for farms with a herd health program compared to dairy
farms without a herd health program based on the smaller financial
investment due to lesser veterinary costs.
Key word: herd health program, financial cost, fertility
60 Rearing Conditions Affect Lifetime Performance and Health of
Dairy Cows: an Observational Study in Swedish Herds
J. Hultgren, C. Svensson
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal
Environment and Health, Skara, Sweden
To study associations of rearing conditions with culling, calving interval
(CI), milk production, and veterinary-reported clinical mastitis (CM)
throughout productive life, data were collected from 2127 cows (49%
Swedish Reds, 49% Swedish Holsteins), representing all female
animals born 1998 in 110 herds in southwest Sweden. Median length of
productive life (LPL) in culled cows was 780 d (14% of records
censored). The Weibull proportional hazards model showed that a
calving age of 28 to 31 mo was associated with the highest culling risk,
1.2-fold higher than calving at 7 calves from 3 to 7 mo was associated with a 1.7-fold
increase in risk, relative to litter pens. If a cow had changed housing
system 4 times before 1st calving it increased the risk of culling 1.4
times, relative to 2 housing changes. Pregnancy status, CM, and milk
yield all affected culling dramatically. The risk of CM was studied by a
generalised linear mixed model. In a given lactation, a cow was defined
as affected by CM if one or several cases were reported by a veterinarian
starting from 7 d precalving. The mean CM incidence was 14% per
lactation; 31% of the cows had CM at least once during their productive
life. Of the variation in CM risk, 90% was due to factors at the lactation
level. Severe diarrhoea between 3 and 7 mo of age was associated with
2.8-fold higher odds than moderate diarrhoea during the same period.
The odds changed curvilinearly with prepubertal growth rate, with a
maximum at 859 g/d, and increased linearly with concentrate ration the
last 2 mo before 1st calving. Median CI was 381, 380, and 377 d in
parities 1, 2 and >3, respectively. The applied mixed model (3542
records in 1550 cows) showed that severe respiratory disease between 3
and 7 mo of age in Swedish Reds increased CI by 12%. Of the total
variation in CI, 9.5% was due to herd factors and 12% to cow factors, as
opposed to variation between lactations. Milk production was studied
by a mixed model. Estimated mean (SD) production was 9209 (±1428)
kg ECM/cow-yr. A high prepubertal growth rate, calving for the first
time in late autumn or winter, a high calving age, and a large increase in
concentrates around calving increased production. The results are
indicative of effects of rearing conditions on the lifetime performance of
dairy cows, likely to affect profitability.