Sand bedded freestall and compost bedded pack effects on cow hygiene, locomotion, and mastitis indicators

Abstract

Keywords:Sand bedded freestall barn Compost bedded pack barn Mastitis Lameness a b s t r a c tThe objective of this study was to assess differences between compost bedded pack (CBP) and sand freestall barns (SFB) for mastitis indicators (herd clinical mastitis, SCC, high SCC prevalence (% of herd Z200,000 cells/mL SCC), and BTSCC), and locomotion, hygiene, and hock scores. This study was conducted on commercial Kentucky dairy farms using CBP (n¼ 8) or SFB (n¼7) as the primary lactating cow housing facility from May 2013 to May 2014. To indicate good management practices, eligible herds had to maintain a yearly mean SCC o 300,000 the year before enrollment in the study. Milk samples were collected from quarters that presented clinical signs of mastitis as identified by milking personnel. Each herd was visited biweekly (n¼26 visits) over the study period. Each visit included evaluating 50 cows per herd for hygiene, locomotion, and hock scores. Somatic cell count (SCC) and high SCC prevalence (percentage of animals in each herd with a test day SCC Z 200,000 cells/mL) were collected from Dairy Herd Information Association (DHI, Raleigh, NC). Bulk tank SCC from each pick up was gathered from each dairy's milk purchaser. Bulk tank SCC from each pick up for all Kentucky herds on DHI regardless of SCC or housing type from January 2013-2014 was requested from the Kentucky Milk Quality Safety Branch to determine differences among all bedding types without selecting for herds enrolled in DHI. Overall, no differences between 8 CBP and 7 SFB selected based on SCC existed for herd locomotion, hygiene, or hock health. No differences were observed for the main effects of housing, maximum temperature humidity index, or hygiene score on SCC, high SCC prevalence, clinical mastitis incidence, or bulk tank SCC for 8 CBP and 7 SFB Kentucky herds. Similarly, for Kentucky DHI herds, bulk tank SCC was not different among herds using CBP, freestall barns, and tie-stall barns. Herds using CBP alongside freestall barns had the lowest bulk tank SCC in Kentucky. These results indicate that, when managed properly, CBP can provide a housing environment comparable to SFB. Freestalls, tie-stalls, and compost bedded pack barns for all herds on DHI had similar bulk tank SCC.

Understanding compost bedded pack barns: Interactions among environmental factors, bedding characteristics, and udder health

“…As mentioned previously, the increase in moisture deposited on the pack is also evaporated at a greater rate when CIT and BT are high. For these reasons, the moisture content of the pack should be expected to decrease over the summer, increasing the length of time a single load of bedding will last (Janni et al, 2006;Eckelkamp et al, 2014). These results corroborate previous research that colder ambient temperatures were inhospitable to CBP establishment .…”

“…Barberg et al (2007b) noted similar behavior with coliforms increasing in the summer (5.29 log 10 cfu/g) compared to the winter (4.61 log 10 cfu/g), corresponding to warmer internal pack temperatures and lower moisture content in the summer. Despite coliform species growth increasing when CIT was high, udder health parameters were not different (P Z0.05) between CPB and sand-bedded freestall barns in a companion study by Eckelkamp et al (2016). This may be linked to BT influencing changes in udder health parameters, which would occur at similar levels in both housing types (Eckelkamp et al, 2016).…”

“…Lobeck et al Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/livsci (2012); Petzen et al (2009) reported no differences between CBP bedding bacteria counts and other housing systems, indicating that CBP maintained similar pathogen exposure levels to other housing environments. Similarly, clinical mastitis, SCC, high SCC prevalence (HSP), and bulk tank SCC (BTSCC) of lactating cows housed in CBP facilities was comparable to that of lactating cows housed in other housing conditions (Lobeck et al, 2011;Black et al, 2014;Eckelkamp et al, 2016).…”

“…The MEANS procedure of SAS was used to determine mean (7 SD) number of cows per herd, DHIA test day milk yield, stocking density, hygiene score, BTSCC, SCC, HSP, RCMI, moisture content, CIT, and compost nutrient values for the study period as described in Eckelkamp et al (2016). The MIXED procedure of SAS was used to develop all models for analyses among farms.…”

“…Dairy producers with CBP also observed poorer pack perfor- mance through lower CIT and higher moisture at colder ambient temperatures (Barberg et al, 2007b). Maintaining a CIT Z38°C and a moisture count r55% in the warmer months (high BT) and keeping fans on even below heat stress levels in cattle (temperature humidity index of 68) over the year will encourage moisture evaporation from the pack and increase bedding life in the colder months of the year (Eckelkamp et al, 2014).…”