Morbidity in 3–7-month-old dairy calves in south-western Sweden, and risk factors for diarrhoea and respiratory disease

Svensson, C.; Hultgren, Jan; Oltenacu, P.A.

doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2005.11.008

Cited by 69 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Median age at 1st calving was relatively high but consistent with official data for all Swedish herds (Swedish Dairy Association, 2007). Like Svensson et al (2006a), we conclude that the study herds were a reasonably representative sample of family dairy operations in southwest Sweden.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Cases associated with a reduced general condition or appetite for >2 d or with obvious weight loss of the diseased calf were denoted as severe, and remaining cases were classified as mild. The calves' health until 210 d was described by Svensson et al (2003Svensson et al ( , 2006a. Body weight was estimated from heart girth at birth, at weaning, at turn-outs to and housings from pasture (or, if not grazed, at corresponding time points), and at 1st breeding.…”

Section: Herds and Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heifer rearing conditions affect length of productive life in Swedish dairy cows

Hultgren

Svensson

2009

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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Associations between rearing conditions and the risk of culling in dairy cows were studied by survival analysis. Data were collected from 1039 Swedish Red cows, 1029 Swedish Holsteins, and 56 cows of other milk or cross-breeds, representing all female animals born in 109 Swedish herds during 1998. Length of productive life was defined as the number of days from 1st calving to culling. The applied Weibull proportional hazards model included time-independent effects of breed, housing from 3 to 7 months of age, number of housing changes before calving, grazing before 1st calving, herd median age at 1st calving, age at 1st calving, cow housing, herd lactational incidence risk of veterinary-reported clinical mastitis, and the random effect of herd. Time-dependent effects were year, month, the interaction year by month, parity, number of breedings, pregnancy status, the interaction parity by pregnancy status, herd mean milk-production level, relative milk yield within breed-parity, and veterinary-reported clinical mastitis. The lactation was divided into six stages in which pregnancy status was assumed to be known by the farmer and culling could occur. Median productive life time in culled cows was 780 d and 14% of the records were censored due to terminated data collection. An individual calving age of 28.2-30.9 months was associated with the highest culling risk, 1.2-fold higher than calving at ≤25.3 months, whereas the risk decreased almost linearly with a higher herd median age at 1 st calving. Housing in slatted pens with >7 calves from 3 to 7 months 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 two housing changes. These results show that rearing factors affect the productive life time of dairy cows in Swedish family operations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Herds and Recordingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heifer rearing conditions affect length of productive life in Swedish dairy cows

Hultgren

Svensson

2009

Preventive Veterinary Medicine

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“…From birth onwards calves are exposed to pathogens responsible for major calfhood disease symptoms such as diarrhoea and pneumonia [11] [12]. The cost of disease is not restricted to the cost of veterinary medicines or prophylactic treatments, as it also has long term economic effects due to reduced average daily gain (ADG), increased culling and later AFC resulting in an increased non-productive period [4] [10] [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Study of Dairy Heifer Rearing Practices from Birth to Weaning and Their Associated Costs on UK Dairy Farms

Boulton¹,

Rushton²,

Wathes³

2015

OJAS

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There are many inputs into the dairy replacement herd which impact not only on the cost of rearing heifers from birth to first calving, but also on their future longevity and production potential. This study determined the current cost of rearing dairy heifers in the UK through the calculation and analysis of individual costs on a subset of 102 UK dairy farms. Each farm was visited and an extensive heifer rearing questionnaire was completed. Current heifer rearing practices were recorded to provide insight into critical management decisions. A cost analysis workbook was developed to calculate the costs of inputs in the pre-weaning period for labour, calving, feed, housing, health treatments and vaccinations, waste storage, machinery and equipment, and utilities. The average age at weaning was 62 d. The mean cost of rearing from birth to weaning was £195.19 per heifer with a mean daily cost of £3.14 (excluding the opportunity cost of the calf). This ranged from £1.68 to £6.11 among farms, reflecting major differences in management strategies and efficiency. The highest contribution to total costs came from feed (colostrum, milk, starter and forage) at 48.5% with milk feeding making up the greatest proportion of this at 37.3%. The next major expenses were bedding and labour, contributing 12.3% and 11.2% respectively. Unsurprisingly, delaying age at weaning increased total cost by £3.53 per day. Total costs were on average 45% higher on organic farms than conventional due to higher feed costs and later weaning. Calving pattern also had a strong association with the total cost being lowest with spring calving, intermediate with autumn calving and highest in multi block and all year round calving herds.

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“…Infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and respiratory diseases are the most frequent health disorders of calves during their first 3 months of life (Olsson et al, 1993;Virtala et al, 1996;Svensson et al, 2006a;Gulliksen et al, 2009d). They impair both growth rate and replacement capacity of the herd.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dairy calf housing systems across Europe and risk for calf infectious diseases

Marcé

Guatteo²,

Bareille³

et al. 2010

Animal

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Enteric and respiratory diseases are the most frequent health disorders of calves. They are associated with mortality or lower growth rate and induce treatment costs. Enteric and respiratory pathogens can be transmitted via contacts between calves, which depend on calf housing systems and management. This study aimed at describing the main calf housing systems across Europe and at assessing the consequences of such housing facilities in terms of risk for calf infectious diseases. This was done through the use of a questionnaire distributed to experts in epidemiology and cattle farming systems in each European country. A literature review was performed on the risk factors associated with calf infectious diseases transmission and targeted in the questionnaire. Answers from 14 countries were obtained. A wide range of housing systems were described. However, four main systems could be identified and ranked in ascending order of risk for neonatal diarrhoea and respiratory infectious diseases: individual pen until weaning, individual pen for 4 weeks, individual pen for 2 weeks, and collective pen from the separation of the calf with its dam. Although the housing systems are known to play a role in disease transmission, they are currently not fully described in literature concerning risk factors for calf infectious diseases. In a given farm, the risk assessment for calf infectious diseases should consider classical risk factors such as hygiene, feeding practices and air conditioning, on top of a precise description of the housing system.

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Morbidity in 3–7-month-old dairy calves in south-western Sweden, and risk factors for diarrhoea and respiratory disease

Cited by 69 publications

References 19 publications

Heifer rearing conditions affect length of productive life in Swedish dairy cows

Heifer rearing conditions affect length of productive life in Swedish dairy cows

A Study of Dairy Heifer Rearing Practices from Birth to Weaning and Their Associated Costs on UK Dairy Farms

Dairy calf housing systems across Europe and risk for calf infectious diseases

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