Oral and Poster Abstracts

Material and Methods: The authors examinated post mortem 3372
bovine in the 356 herds from January 2001 to December 2007 and
collected informations from farmers and veterinarians. The study
population included 25838 cattle, The main causes of deaths were
classificated in eight categories: respiratory disorders,digestive
disorders,calving disorders,metabolic disorders,accidents,udder/teat
disorders,other known reasons and unknown reason. Data collected
was analysed and compared.
Results: Table 1 report the mortality rate in years from 2001 to 2007.
Table 1. Deaths cattle and mortality rate
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
N° deaths 496 492 447 446 498 491 502
mortality 1,91% 1,90% 1,73% 1,73% 1,92% 1,90% 1,94%
rate
We found a higher mortality in older dairy cows (2007). The mortality
rate rise from 3,41% in dairy cows 3-5 years old to 3,84% in dairy cows
5-8 years old and 4,34% in dairy cows than 8 years older.In the beef
breeds ( Piemontese ) the mortality rate is higher in cows 3-5 years old
(1,63%) and cows 8 years older ( 1,67%) than cows 5-8 years old (
1,29%).The table 2 report the percentages to each group of death causes
on dairy cows and beef breed cows.
Table 2. Causes of death on dairy cow and beef breed cow mortality (%).
Respi- Calving Meta- Accid- Udder Diges- Other Unratory
dis- bolic ents /teat tive cause known
disor- order disor- disor- disor causes
ders ders ders ders
Dairy 6 5 24 7 13 7 10 28
cows
Beef 7 25 4 3 2 10 18 31
breeds
cows
The inter-herd variability was significant, with mortality rates running
between 0 and 8%.We found that 44% of dairy cow deaths occurred
within the first four weeeks of the lactation.All cattle twenty four
months older (1472 deaths) were tested for Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE) and were negative.
Conclusions: We don’t found significant difference between the
mortality rate in small and large herds. The quality of management
result the major discriminant to reduce deaths cattle rate.A good
practice breeeding has a strong positive impact on animal health,
welfare and mortality.
Key words: cows, cattle, mortality rate
1146 Effect of Bovine Respiratory Disease on Growth and Carcass
Quality during Early and Late Finishing Periods Using
Treatment Records and Lung Lesions Scoring in French
Feedlot Cattle
F. Corbiere 1 , C. Lacroux 1 , R. Besse 1 , R. Chevalier 2 , PR. Cloet 2 ,
F. Schelcher 1
1
National Veterinary School of Toulouse, Pathology of Ruminants,
Toulouse, France
2
Schering Plough Vétérinaire, Animal Health Division, Levallois
Perret, France
Aims: Evaluate the effect of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and
lung lesions on growth and carcass quality during early and late
finishing periods in French feedlot cattle.
Material and Methods: 407 Blonde d’Aquitaine five to seven months old
male beef calves from a selection unit were monitored. Weight was
recorded at entry (day one) and monthly until slaughtering after an average
of 240 days on feed. The rectal temperature and clinical signs of BRD were
recorded daily during the first 3 weeks. Onward, the rectal temperature was
recorded only for calves with general or respiratory clinical signs. A
treatment for BRD was initiated if rectal temperature was >40°C. At
slaughter, the occurrence and extent of lung lesions were recorded and
scored using a standardized scale and carcass quality was evaluated
according to the EUROP scale. Associations between dependant variables
(mean daily weight gain (ADG) and EUROP score) and the presence and
extent of lung lesions or treatment for BRD were analyzed using linear
mixed regression models adjusted for potential confounders.
Results: Clinical BRD occurred in 52.8% of calves, mostly (77.6 %)
during the first month on feed but mortality due to BRD remained low
(0.48%). At slaughter, lung lesions were observed in 46.9% of calves,
mostly in cranial pulmonary lobes. The prevalence of lung lesions was
not significantly different between animals never treated for BRD,
animals treated once and animals treated twice or more (p=0.53). The
overall ADG was 1553g ± 155g. Treatment for BRD was associated
with a 177g reduction in ADG (p