Influence of Free-Stall Base on Tarsal Joint Lesions and Hygiene in Dairy Cows

Abstract

The objective was to quantify the incidence of tarsal lesions and level of hygiene by stall bed type. Cows were scored on 100 dairies from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Iowa, and New York in the fall and winter. Thirty-eight dairies used rubber-filled mattresses (RFM), 27 had sand beds, 29 had waterbeds, and 6 used compost packs (CPk). Stocking density, stall dimensions, bedding amount, bedding frequency, and type of bedding were recorded. One pen of early-lactation multiparous cows on each dairy was scored based on injury of the tarsal joints at the lateral and medial surfaces and tuber calcis at the dorsal, lateral, and medial surfaces. A tarsal score of 1 represented hair loss, 2 was moderate, and 3 indicated severe swelling. Differences between bed types in the percentages of cows with lesions were tested with one-way ANOVA by lesion severity and incidence, with farm as the experimental unit. Cows on sand beds or waterbeds had fewer lesion scores of 1, 2, and 3 than those on RFM. The percentages of score 1 were 54.6 ± 4.4 (RFM), 22.5 ± 4.7 (sand), and 29.8 ± 4.3 (waterbed), whereas the percentages of score 2 were 14.0 ± 1.4, 2.3 ± 1.5, and 5.0 ± 1.4, and of score 3 were 3.0 ± 0.4, 0.2 ± 0.4, and 0.4 ± 0.4. Cows on CPk had no lesions. Hygiene scores ranged from 1 to 5, with 1 being clean and 5 soiled. The percentages of hygiene score 1 were 0 (compost), 0.4 (RFM), 0.4 (sand), and 0.4 (waterbeds); those with score 2 were 79.0, 84.0 ± 0.01, 73.2 ± 0.01, and 80.4 ± 0.01; with score 3 were 20.3, 15.2 ± 0.01, 23.8 ± 0.01, and 18.6 ± 0.01; with score 4 were 0.8, 0.005 ± 0.001, 0.006 ± 0.001, and 0.025 ± 0.003; and with score 5 was 0 for all bed types. Cows on RFM and waterbeds had improved hygiene compared with cows on sand beds. There was no difference in somatic cell count (SCC) by bed type. The percentage of cows in fourth lactation or Received November 28, 2006. Accepted March 5, 2007 Corresponding author: Wendy.Fulwider@ColoState.edu 3559 greater on waterbeds (19.8 ± 1.8) was greater than those on RFM (13.3 ± 1.6) or on sand (13.5 ± 1.8). The percentage culled was lower for cows on waterbeds than on RFM (22.8 ± 1.5 vs. 29.4 ± 1.4). Score 3 tarsal lesions were correlated (r = 0.60) with SCC. The length of the sand bed was correlated with a greater percentage of mature cows. The SCC was correlated with the percentage of cows reported lame on the day of the visit (r = 0.45) and with neck rail height (r = −0.26). On dairies with RFM, severe lesions (r = 0.60), death losses (r = 0.52), and percentage of the herd reported lame on the day of the visit (r = 0.52) were all correlated with the SCC. Dairies with higher percentages of lesions had higher SCC, death losses, lameness, and culling rates. Adding bedding several times per week may reduce the incidence of lesions.

Effects of housing and management conditions on teat cleanliness of dairy cows in cubicle systems taking into account body dimensions of the cows

“…Although daily cubicle maintenance time was estimated by the farmers themselves and may therefore be debatable with regard to reliability, results are in agreement with other studies, which found that the frequency of bedding replacement and service, such as removal of faeces, positively influences cow cleanliness (Veissier et al, 2004;Fulwider et al, 2007;Martiskainen et al, 2007). Unfortunately, for economic reasons such as cost of labour and expenditure for bedding materials, farmers often do not fully implement this well-known measure (Weary et al, 2008).…”

“…Therefore, in a number of experimental studies, the impact of different housing and management aspects on udder cleanliness has already been investigated. The type of cubicle flooring (Chaplin et al, 2000;Fulwider et al, 2007), absence or presence of a brisket board (Tucker et al, 2006), neck-rail position (Tucker et al, 2005;Bernardi et al, 2009;Fregonesi et al, 2009), type of bedding material (Magnusson et al, 2008;Norring et al, 2008), as well as the degree of soiling of the passageway (Christiansson et al, 1999;Magnusson et al, 2008) were found to influence cubicle and udder soiling. With regard to cubicle dimensions, it was found that restrictive cubicle dimensions result in cleaner stalls (Tucker et al, , 2005(Tucker et al, and 2006, and therefore in cleaner udders (Bernardi et al, 2009;Fregonesi et al, 2009).…”

Investigating integument alterations in cubicle housed dairy cows: which types and locations can be combined?

“…Rodenburg et al, 1994;Lombard et al, 2010;Potterton et al, 2011a and2011b) and some additionally on the carpal joint (e.g. Spycher et al, 2002;Fulwider et al, 2007;Norring et al, 2008). Some recent studies also looked at prevalences and possible influencing factors at the neck (Kielland et al, 2010;Zaffino Heyerhoff et al, 2014), the hip bone region and hind leg apart from hock and knee (Rouha-Mülleder et al, 2010), as well as the hips, knees, fetlocks and thighs (Kielland et al, 2009).…”

Effect of floor on lameness in crossbred dairy Cow: a Review

“…Severe injuries on leg may cause pain and suffering (Wechsler et al, 2000). The prevalence of hock hair loss and ulceration was greater than the prevalence of hock swelling (Fulwider et (Fulwider et al, 2007); demonstrating that leg injuries also leads to poor udder health. Flooring of house is again a major determiner of this condition.…”