Lameness in dairy cows: farmer perceptions and automated detection technology

AbstractThis Research Reflection provides an overview of three interrelated topics: (i) lameness in dairy cows, demonstrating the underpinning importance of the condition, (ii) dairy farmer detection, diagnosis and treatment of lameness and associated foot lesions as well as dairy farmer perceptions towards the condition and (iii) lameness detection technologies, and their potential application on farm to automate the detection of lameness in commercial dairy herds. The presented literature clearly demonstrates that lameness is a major health issue in dairy herds, compromising dairy cow welfare and productivity, and resulting in significant economic implications for dairy farmers. Despite this, dairy farmers fail to perceive lameness as a serious threat to their dairy business. This restricted perception of the importance of lameness may be a product of limited ability to detect lame cows. Many automated lameness detection technologies have been proposed to assist dairy farmers in managing their herds. However, limitations such as cost, performance and dairy farmer perception of the usefulness of these technologies, has lead to poor uptake. It can, therefore, be concluded that there is a need to more thoroughly evaluate the effectiveness of these technologies under on-farm conditions, potentially in the form of a demonstration farm network. This will allow generation of the necessary data required to show dairy farmers that these technologies are reliable and are economically rational for their dairy business.

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Exosomal Cargo May Hold the Key to Improving Reproductive Outcomes in Dairy Cows

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22042024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 2024

Author(s):

Natalie Turner ◽

Pevindu Abeysinghe ◽

Pawel Sadowski ◽

Murray D. Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Dairy Cows ◽

Bioactive Peptides ◽

Cell Types ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Early Biomarkers ◽

Health And Disease ◽

Place Of Origin ◽

Quantitative Profiling

The reproductive status of dairy cows remains a challenge for dairy farmers worldwide, with impaired fertility linked to a significant reduction in herd profitability, due in part to impaired immunity, increased metabolic pressure, and longer postpartum anestrous interval (PPAI). Exosomes are nanovesicles released from a variety of cell types and end up in circulation, and carry proteins, bioactive peptides, lipids, and nucleic acids specific to the place of origin. As such, their role in health and disease has been investigated in humans and animals. This review discusses research into exosomes in the context of reproduction in dairy herds and introduces recent advances in mass-spectrometry (MS) based proteomics that have a potential to advance quantitative profiling of exosomal protein cargo in a search for early biomarkers of cattle fertility.

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Escherichia coli O157 in Cull Dairy Cows on Farm and at Slaughter

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-60.11.1386 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 60 (11) ◽

pp. 1386-1387 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

DANIEL H. RICE ◽

ERIC D. EBEL ◽

DALE D. HANCOCK ◽

THOMAS E. BESSER ◽

DONALD E. HERRIOTT ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Dairy Cattle ◽

Dairy Cows ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Escherichia Coli O157 ◽

E Coli ◽

Cull Cows ◽

On Farm

Cull dairy cattle both on the farm and at slaughter from herds in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington were surveyed for Escherichia coli O157 by culturing fecal swab samples. A total of 205 cull cows from 19 dairy herds were sampled on the farm of origin; 7 (3.4%) tested positive for E. coli O157. A total of 103 cull cows from 15 dairy herds were sampled at slaughter; 4 (3.9%) were positive for E. coli O157. Eighty-nine cull cows were sampled both at the farm and at slaughter; 2 (2.2%) were positive in both locations, 3 (3.3%) only on the farm, and 2 (2.2%) only at the slaughter plant. Seven (7.9%) of the 89 cull cows tracked from farm to slaughter were positive in at least one location. This suggests a higher prevalence of E. coli O157 in cull dairy cattle than previously has been reported to occur in other ages and classes of cattle.

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On-farm phosphorus budget: Model to predict yearly phosphorus contents in manure of dairy herds

Canadian Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.4141/cjas06015 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 87 (3) ◽

pp. 407-411

Author(s):

Isabelle Chaperon, Cynthia Ouellet ◽

Vincent Girard ◽

Younes Chorfi

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Soil Phosphorus ◽

Reproductive Efficiency ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Cow Manure ◽

Phosphorus Budget ◽

Budget Model ◽

Dairy Animals ◽

On Farm ◽

The Relationship

In order to reduce soil phosphorus (P) saturation, it is essential to assess the amount of manure P on cultivated soil. The purpose of this study was to estimate yearly herd manure P outputs from production and feeding records with a model based on replacement and dairy animals. The model predicts manure P based on P ingested by dairy cows (kg yr-1), P secreted in milk (kg yr-1), P in calf at birth (kg yr-1), and the number of first-lactation cows. The relationship between first-lactation cows and heifers was established; there were 1.3 ± 0.05 heifers for each first-lactation cow. Manure P from heifers was then obtained by fitting the model to manure P accumulated in concrete pits of 12 farms, measured over two 6-mo periods at 1 yr intervals. The model added 10.6 ± 4.6 kg of P for each first-lactation cow to predict the yearly P output of 1.3 heifers. Ratios between P harvested as feed and P predicted in manure were calculated in 1133 herds. High ratios were obtained in herds with less customized concentrate (P < 0.001), more harvested grain and silage (P < 0.001) on farm and larger size of herd (P < 0.001) with more milk (P < 0.001) and lower calf production (P < 0.001). Decreasing purchased customized concentrates and increasing the amount of silage fed to animals are valid options to reduce non-point-source P pollution. Key words: Dairy herds, manure, phosphorus, model, reproductive efficiency

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Production and Promotion of Triticale as a High Quality Fodder and Feed in Small-Scale Dairy Farmers of Bangladesh

Progressive Agriculture ◽

10.3329/pa.v19i2.16964 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 217-228

Author(s):

ME Haque ◽

SR Waddington ◽

ZI Sarker ◽

NR Sarker ◽

M Akteruzzaman

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Dry Mass ◽

Fresh Mass ◽

Small Scale ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

High Quality ◽

Dual Purpose ◽

Green Fodder ◽

On Farm ◽

Small Scale Dairy

In Bangladesh, high quality fodder is scare from December to May for ruminant livestock and feed is expensive throughout the year for poultry. A project was conducted in the cool dry Rabi (December-February) seasons of 2005-06 and 2006-07 to promote triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) as a high quality dual-purpose fodder and feed for small-scale dairy and poultry producers. During 2005 and 2006, 504 farm families from six districts in north western and central Bangladesh received training on triticale cultivation and its utilization as a green fodder for dairy cows and for grain. Printed training manuals and visual training materials (including a DVD docudrama) were developed, used in training, and distributed widely. On-farm demonstrations on triticale production were mounted with each trained farm family in two years using a dual-purpose fodder and grain type triticale variety, WRF-7, that earlier on farm research had identified to perform well in Bangladesh. High quality grass fodder was obtained by cutting the vegetative triticale plants either twice (at 35 and 50 days after seeding (DAS)or once (at around 40 days), while the later ratooning tillers produced grain. In 168 farmer demonstrations in 2005-06, the green fodder yield ranged from 4.9 to 20.0 t/ha fresh mass (0.7 t/ha to 2.7 t/ha dry mass) from one cut at 35 DAS and 7 to 28 t/ha fresh mass from two cuts at 35 and 50 DAS. Overall, 62% of farmers reported yields above 10 t/ha of fresh green fodder. A mean grain yield of 1.8 t/ha was obtained from WRF-7 after two cuts on-farm. Straw yields ranged from 0.8 to 7.1 t/ha dry mass. 324 farmers hosted similar demonstrations in 2006-07 and reported higher yields of green fodder, ranging from 7.4 to 33.7 t/ha fresh mass from one cut at 40 to 42 DAS. A higher mean grain yield of 2.8 t/ha was obtained from WRF-7 after one cut for fodder in 2006-07. Assessments of WRF-7 dual-purpose triticale by farmers were very positive, with 97% wanting to grow triticale again in more land ranging from 0.04 ha to 0.81 ha (Table 3). From experience, many farmers decided it was more efficient to cut triticale once for green fodder. Almost all farmers reported benefits to milk production and farm income from feeding triticale fodder to cows. It was concluded that smallholder dairy farmers in North-West Bangladesh can easily produce sufficient amounts of quality fodder for dairy cows and feed for poultry from WRF-7 dual-purpose triticale during periods of severe fodder shortages.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pa.v19i2.16964 Progress. Agric. 19(2): 217 - 228, 2008

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Prevalence of pathogens in milk samples of dairy cows with clinical mastitis and in heifers at first parturition

Journal of Dairy Research ◽

10.1017/s0022029908003786 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 179-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Bernd-Alois Tenhagen ◽

Inken Hansen ◽

Annette Reinecke ◽

Wolfgang Heuwieser

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Clinical Mastitis ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Coagulase Negative Staphylococci ◽

Staph Aureus ◽

Milk Samples ◽

Negative Results ◽

On Farm ◽

Mastitis Pathogens

Prevalence of mastitis pathogens in milk samples from dairy cows and heifers was studied over a period of 1 year (Aug 2005–Aug 2006) in ten dairy herds in Germany. Milk samples (n=8240) were collected from heifers without clinical mastitis at parturition (n=6915), from primiparous cows with clinical mastitis (n=751) and from older cows with clinical mastitis (n=574). Coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) were the predominant group of bacteria isolated (46·8% of samples) from clinically healthy quarters of primiparous cows around parturition, followed by streptococci (12·6%), coliforms (4·7%) and Staphylococcus aureus (4·0%). Thirty-three percent of samples were negative on culture (range on farm level, 12·0–46·4%). In cases of clinical mastitis in primiparous and older cows, streptococci were the predominant finding (32·1 and 39·2%) followed by CNS (27·4 and 16·4%), coliforms (10·3 and 13·1%) and Staph. aureus (10·0 and 11·7%). Negative results were obtained from 21·3% (range, 0·0–30·6%) and 19·5% (range, 0·0–32·6%) of these samples. Results indicated substantial differences in the prevalence of pathogens among herds. There was a positive within-herd correlation between the monthly prevalences for Streptococcus dysgalactiae between the three groups of samples. This correlation was also found between clinical samples of primiparous and older cows for Staph. aureus. These correlations were not found for the other pathogens. Besides herd, prevalence of pathogens was influenced by parity, type of sample and season.

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Welfare Challenges of Dairy Cows in India Identified Through On-Farm Observations

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10040586 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 586

Author(s):

Siobhan Mullan ◽

Surej J. Bunglavan ◽

Elizabeth Rowe ◽

David C. Barrett ◽

Michael R. F. Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Stress ◽

Dairy Cattle ◽

Dairy Cows ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Unlimited Access ◽

Future Work ◽

On Farm ◽

Resistance To Heat ◽

Poor Welfare

India has the largest population of dairy cattle in the world at over 48 million animals, yet there has been little formal assessment of their welfare reported. Through observations of dairy cows on 38 farms in Kerala, India, we aimed to investigate the welfare of these animals and the practicality of animal-based assessments within common farming systems. Substantial welfare challenges were identified. All cows were close-tied (less than 1 m length) via a halter that pierced the nasal septum when housed, which was for the entire day (50% of farms) or part thereof. When outside access was available, it was also usually restricted by close-tying, longline tether, or hobbling. Ad libitum water was only available on 22% of farms and food access was also restricted (mean of 4.3 h/day). Future work should focus on encouraging dairy farmers in India to improve the welfare of their dairy cattle by: ceasing to tie and tether cattle (or at least providing tied and tethered cattle with exercise opportunities); providing unlimited access to drinking water and a readier supply of food (especially quality green forage/fodder); cleaning housing more frequently; providing strategies to prevent heat stress; breeding cattle suited to environmental conditions and with increased resistance to heat stress; and carrying out welfare assessments more regularly using a validated protocol and rectifying the causes of poor welfare. Such changes could substantially improve the welfare of tens of millions of cattle.

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Differences in the Fecal Concentrations and Genetic Diversities of Campylobacter jejuni Populations among Individual Cows in Two Dairy Herds

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.01783-12 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (21) ◽

pp. 7564-7571 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Delphine Rapp ◽

Colleen M. Ross ◽

Eve J. Pleydell ◽

Richard W. Muirhead

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Campylobacter Jejuni ◽

Management Practices ◽

Human Infection ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Related Factors ◽

Content Type ◽

Relationship Of ◽

High Degree ◽

On Farm

ABSTRACTDairy cows have been identified as common carriers ofCampylobacter jejuni, which causes many of the human gastroenteritis cases reported worldwide. To design on-farm management practices that control the human infection sourced from dairy cows, the first step is to acquire an understanding of the excretion patterns of the cow reservoir. We monitored the same 35 cows from two dairy farms forC. jejuniexcretion fortnightly for up to 12 months. The objective was to examine the concentration ofC. jejuniand assess the genetic relationship of theC. jejunipopulations excreted by individual cows. Significant differences (P< 0.01) inC. jejunifecal concentration were observed among the 35 cows, with median concentrations that varied by up to 3.6 log10· g−1feces. A total of 36 different genotypes were identified from the 514 positive samples by using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR. Although 22 of these genotypes were excreted by more than one cow, the analysis of frequencies and distribution of the genotypes by model-based statistics revealed a high degree of individuality in theC. jejunipopulation in each cow. The observed variation in the frequency of excretion of a genotype among cows and the analysis by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of these genotypes suggest that excretion ofC. jejuniin high numbers is due to a successful adaptation of a particular genotype to a particular cow's gut environment, but that animal-related factors render some individual cows resistant to colonization by particular genotypes. The reasons for differences inC. jejunicolonization of animals warrant further investigation.

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Predicting the time of ovulation in dairy cows using milk progesterone kits

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) ◽

10.1017/s0308229600011363 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 1989 ◽

pp. 146-146

Author(s):

B.J. McLeod ◽

R.F. Weller ◽

R.H. Phipps ◽

J.A. Foulkes

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Reproductive Performance ◽

Practical Method ◽

Dairy Herds ◽

Cycle Period ◽

Detection Rates ◽

High Incidence ◽

Conception Rates ◽

Embryonic Loss ◽

On Farm

Poor reproductive performance of dairy herds is seldom attributable to a high incidence of embryonic loss or to long periods of anoestrus, but is generally due to the failure to inseminate cows that are cycling normally.Even in the best managed herds, oestrus detection rates rarely exceed 70-80%, and often 10-20% of non-oestrous animals may be recorded as being on heat. These shortcomings in oestrus detection can be overcome by monitoring oestrous cycles in Individual animals, thus enabling the time of ovulation to be predicted. For example, when cows that failed to show oestrus, were inseminated on the basis of milk progesterone profiles, the conception rates achieved were similar to those in cows inseminated at observed oestrus (Ball and Jackson, 1979). In addition, in groups of animals inseminated at progesterone-timed rather than at observed oestrus, the number of cows served over a one-cycle period increased dramatically (98 v 71%), and days from calving to first service decreased (78 v 92 days), (Foulkes, Cookson and Sauer, 1982). In this study, the feasibility of using on-farm milk progesterone kits as a practical method of predicting ovulation, and its effects on herd reproductive performance were assessed.

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A proposed structural approach to improve cow-claw health on Dutch dairy farms

Journal of Dairy Research ◽

10.1017/s0022029921000753 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Menno Holzhauer ◽

Ryan J. van Egmond

Keyword(s):

Dairy Cows ◽

Dairy Farms ◽

Communication Style ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Dairy Farmer ◽

Health Advice ◽

Good Advice ◽

Health Situation ◽

Insight Into

Abstract Despite extensive research leading to an improved understanding of the risk factors and pathogenesis of infectious and non-infectious disorders, claw health has not structurally improved in recent decades. Several studies have shown that claw disorders harm milk production, fertility and longevity of the dairy cows and job satisfaction of the farmer. This is enough reason to structurally improve claw health on dairy farms. The focus should be on a rapid curative intervention when lameness occurs and above all the prevention of claw problems. Most claw disorder diagnoses are nowadays made during regular claw trimming by the professional trimmer or the dairy farmer. Registration of the detected disorders during claw trimming is not always done consistently, so the estimated prevalence (number of cows with a claw disorder) is in most cases an underestimation of the real prevalence. The quality of these records often makes it difficult for consultants to formulate appropriate claw health advice. To be able to give good advice on claw health, insight into the prevalence of the various hoof disorders on a farm is a key condition. However, good quality advice alone is not a guarantee for an improved claw health situation on a farm. Research has shown that in addition to high quality substantiated advice, the communication style between the consultant and the dairy farmer is essential for the interpretation and motivation of the dairy farmer to implement the advice. In this paper a 7-point plan is presented as a guidance for herd advisors who want to support dairy farmers to improve claw health.

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