A case study on therapeutic management of a cross-bred downer cow

A five year old cross bred cow, 24 hours post calving was presented to Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex (TVCC), Pookode, with the history of recumbency 24 hours post calving. The serum biochemical parameters of calcium, phosphorus and potassium on the first day of presentation were 7.93 mg/dL, 3.82 mg/dL and 3.67 mEq/L, respectively. Tentatively the condition was diagnosed as downer cow with metabolic origin. The cow was treated with calcium borogluconate, flunixine meglumine and inj. Vitamin B1, B6, B12, sodium acid phosphate, vitamin ADE, Selenium, Biotin liquid for 7 days. Along with this, potassium chloride was administered for two days. The supportive treatment was done with lifting of cow using cow sling. Sand bedding was provided along with physiotherapy of rolling of the recumbent cow alternate ways six times a day. The serum biochemical parameters became normal on 8th day and the cow recovered by 13th day.

APPLICATION OF SAND AS BEDDING IN BOXES WITH AN LOOSE CATTLE KEEPING AS EXEMPLIFIED BY “ULANOVO” FARM

The paper describes the experience of using sand as a bedding material gained by the Ulanovo cattle-breeding farm for 2800 heads located in the Medyn district of the Kaluga region. Removing manure from the passage, maintaining a suffi cient level and evenness of sand in the bed require an integrated approach to mechanization of this process in accordance with the requirements for creating comfortable conditions in the boxes. The authors have analyzed the effi ciency of the machines and equipment used in the livestock farm. It was found that the Mensch V4500 self-propelled machine was more reliable and effi cient when removing manure from the aisles as compared to the Fligl trailed tanker of the VFW 18 000 model. The average daily operating time was 17.1 hours, which is optimal for a farm with 2,800 heads. Mechanized sand bedding shall be preferably made by the trailed W3385 gritter than the self-propelled Mensch M3620 model, although it is more maneuverable, easy to operate and highly productive. But the use of a self-propelled model with a daily load of 5.4 hours is ineff ective for a given livestock population. The technology of using sand as bedding in the Ulanovo farm has shown its eff ectiveness associated with an increase in the productivity of animals, a decrease in mastitis cases, and a decreased disposal rate of animals due to limb diseases. Despite these advantages, this technology has not found wide application in Russia due to the high cost of imported machines and the lack of domestic analogues that provide manure removal and sand introduction into the boxes.

Microbial Characteristics and Safety of Dairy Manure ComPosting for Reuse as Dairy Bedding

Changes in bacterial community, phenotype, metabolic function, and pathogenic bacteria content in recycled manure solids (RMS) were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing, Bugbase, picrost2, and qPCR, respectively. The data from RMS bedding were compared to those of sand bedding and rice husk bedding. The results show that the proportion of potentially pathogenic bacteria among the manure flora of RMS after dry and wet separation, after composting, and after sun-cure storage was 74.00%, 26.03%, and 49.067%, respectively. Compared to RMS bedding, the proportion of potentially pathogenic microorganisms in sand bedding and rice husk bedding was higher. The picrust2 analyses show that the level of lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis changed significantly during RMS processing. In addition, the qPCR results show that composting could effectively reduce the detection and quantification of pathogens, except Streptococcus uberis, in RMS bedding. In general, composting is an essential step to improve the safety of bedding materials in the process of fecal treatment. However, at the same time, RMS bedding may increase the risk of mastitis caused by Streptococcus uberis.

Effects of surface materials of self-draining beds on cattle behavior in a temperate climate

Objective: The objective of the present experiment was to construct self-draining beds to keep surface bedding materials clean and dry for beef cattle comfort in a temperate climate.Methods: In Experiment 1, a self-draining bed was covered with sand at depths of 10 cm (S-10a), 15 cm (S-15), and 20 cm (S-20) respectively. In Experiment 2, self-draining beds of different sizes were covered with 10 cm of sand (S-10b) and wood shavings (WS) at depths of 15 cm and 20 cm (WS-15 and WS-20). Fifteen cattle were engaged to evaluate the comfort of self-draining beds covered with different bedding materials.Results: No cattle lay in the feed alley and cattle spent more time lying on S-10a than S-15 or S-20 in Experiment 1 (p<0.01). No difference in lying time was detected between S-15 and S-20 (p>0.05). In Experiment 2, no cattle selected the feed alley as the lying area. Cattle preferred WS-15 as the lying area and time spent lying on WS-20 was slightly higher than on S-10b (p<0.05). Feces weight was higher in the feed alley than in the different bedding areas in both Experiments 1 and 2 (p<0.01).Conclusion: Sand-bedding depth at 10 cm and WSs at 15 cm above the self-draining bed can provide for the lying comfort of beef cattle. Design of a special feed alley to hold most of the feces to keep bedding materials clean and dry is desirable for organic beef cattle in a loose barn.

Physical Properties of Dairy Manure Pre- and Post-Anaerobic Digestion

Manure characteristics change through processing, including anaerobic digestion (AD). These changes can alter handling of manure during downstream operations. This study analyzed the density, total solids (TS) content, and volatile solids (VS) content of pre-digested and anaerobically digested dairy manure from seven dairy farms in Wisconsin. The density of pre-digested manure increased from 990 to 1065 kg m−3 as the TS level increased from 1.5% to 13.0%. Density and TS for pre-digested manure from facilities using separated solids as bedding were related with a linear model for TS ranging from 1.5% to 13.0% and with a polynomial model for TS ranging from 1.5% to 50%. The model shows that density decreases with an increasing TS content when TS is greater than 8.0%. Manure from dairy facilities that used sand bedding had a VS/TS ratio of 0.87. This ratio was higher than the ratio when manure solids were used as bedding (0.81) and when food waste was incorporated into the digester (0.77). This study also provides a simple methodology to estimate biogas yield by using the density of pre- and post-digested manure.

Sand bedding as a reservoir for Lactococcus garvieae dissemination in dairy farms

Lactococcus garvieae is now recognized as a species with clinical significance for human and veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of this pathogen in sand bedding and milk samples. Two farms in Minnesota with problems of clinical and subclinical mastitis due to streptococci-like organisms were selected. Twenty-four Lactococcus garvieae isolates from sand bedding and 18 isolates from quarter milk were comparatively studied using a genotypic approach. RAPD (random amplification of polymorphic DNA) PCR and REP (repetitive element palindromic) PCR experiments highlighted a similar electrophoretic profile. When genes belonging to the core genome of L. garvieae were tested through a MLRT (multilocus restriction typing), we again observed that all L. garvieae isolates coming from sand bedding and milk shared a common profile, distinguishable from previously studied representative L. garvieae strains. These data indicate that the L. garvieae isolated from sand bedding and milk originated from a few strains adapted to persist in the same habitat. This supports the hypothesis that sand bedding can represent a reservoir of L. garvieae strains and be a potential vehicle for their dissemination in dairy farms.