Eutergesundheitsüberwachung bei Milchschafen und Milchziegen - welche Methoden sind geeignet?

Eutererkrankungen sind nicht der Krankheitskomplex, der an erster Stelle genannt wird, wenn man an Krankheiten bei kleinen Wiederkäuern denkt. Trotzdem haben sie vermutlich eine gleich große Bedeutung wie bei Milchkühen. Ganz besonders wenn man die Milchleistungsminderungen in Betracht zieht, welche durch die subklinische, d. h. durch visuelle Beurteilung des Vorgemelks und des Euterzustandes nicht erkennbare, Form der Mastitis betrachtet. In der erwerbsmäßigen Milchschaf- bzw. Milchziegenhaltung kommt der Gesunderhaltung des wichtigsten „Betriebsmittels“, dem Euter, somit eine ganz besondere Bedeutung zu. Dabei muss die Prophylaxe in Form einer tiergerechten Haltung, leistungsgerechten Fütterung sowie eines Euter schonenden Milchentzugs stets im Vordergrund stehen. Neben der kontinuierlichen Kontrolle der Haltungstechnik, der Futtermittel und Futteraufnahme, der Überprüfung der Funktionssicherheit der Melkanlage sollte auch der Eutergesundheitszustand der Tiere in regelmäßigen Abständen überprüft werden. Dafür stehen unterschiedliche Verfahren zur Verfügung, wobei diese in verschiedenem Maße für die beiden Tierarten geeignet sind. Grundsätzlich sind alle Monitoringmethoden aus der Haltung von Milchkühen übernommen worden. Leider gibt es keine spezifischen Prüfmethoden für Schafe und Ziegen

Untersuchungen zur Aufzucht von Schaf- und Ziegenlämmern mit arteigener und artfremder Milch

During the last years, the number of dairy goats and sheep in Germany steadily in-creased, and at least ten percent of these animals are kept under conditions of or-ganic farming. A few months of the year milk is unavailable due to the seasonal repro-duction of sheep and goats. In organic farming, this gap is increased by the demand of lamb rearing with milk of the mother animal. A main part of the whole milk production has to be used for lamb feeding instead of processing cheese. This financial loss might be reduced if organic milk of cows is available. However, the milk composition of cows, sheep and goats is different and this might lead to health problems of the lambs when cow’s milk is used as a substitute. The study aimed for an answer on this ques-tion. In 2005 all lambs of the sheep and goat herd owned by the Institute of organic farming were used for the experiment. The lambs were kept with their mothers for five days after lambing. Afterwards the lambs were dived in two groups (species-specific – SSM - and non-species-specific milk - NSSM). Lambs got 450 ml milk (cow or sheep) three times per day by bucket. Kids were reared by an automated feeding device and got 2500 ml milk per day at maximum. Water and hay were offered ad libitum. Con-centrate feed (80 g per animal) was divided into three portions per day. The animals were weighed every day and during the first ten days of the experiment the body temperature was measured daily. Data of 42 lambs (SSM: 23, NSSM: 19) and 78 kids (SSM: 41, NSSM: 37) were evaluated. No differences could be observed between kids fed with SSM and NSSM concerning the live weight gain until the 45th day after birth, the body temperature and the health. At the 41st day after birth the female lambs fed with sheep milk weighed 2.2 kg more than the lambs fed with cow milk. Male lambs differed by 2.0 kg. 18 of the 19 lambs in the NSSM-group showed symptoms of diar-rhoea at least once during the investigation, and the mean body temperature for this group was 0.2 K lower than for the SSM-group (p < 0.05). However, no lamb had to be culled during the experiment. The reason for the revealed differences has to be the milk composition because the herd management of the groups was excellent and did not vary. Ewe’s milk has a high fat and protein content. The milk used in this study contained 5.4% fat, 4.8% protein and 5.06% lactose, the cow milk 3.78%, 2.73% and 4.7%, respectively. As a consequence, the energy content of the sheep milk was approximately 30% higher compared with the milk of cows (3,811 vs. 2,748 kJ per l). Thus, sheep milk should be substituted by cow milk only under very good conditions of animal husbandry. In organic dairy goat farms cow milk might be used for feeding the kids and to reduce the economic loss for the farmer, assumed the milk of organic dairy cows is available

Untersuchungen zum Vorkommen und zur Persistenz koagulase-negativer Staphylokokken bei Milchziegen

Intramammary infections caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) in goats are increasing during the last few years and play an important role like as in dairy cows. The relevance of these microorganisms as potential udder pathogens are con-troversial discussed, but it has been proved that CNS plays an important role in the development of persistent subclinical mastitis. The aim of the present study was the investigation of the occurrence and the persistence of main pathogens in the dairy goat herd of the Institute of Organic Farming of the FAL in Trenthorst over three lacta-tions. Therefore PCR methods based on specific 16S-23S ribosomal RNA spacer sequences, developed for detection of pathogens in cow’s milk, should be tested for their application in goats. DNA used in PCR was isolated directly from milk without cultivation of the bacteria. The investigation shows that the developed primer systems are useful tools for the detection of CNS in goats. The main CNS in the investigated goat herd is S. epider-midis, S. simulans and S. xylosus. S. epidermidis and S. simulans are persistent over three lactations in some animals but not in all. The reasons for the different behaviour of the bacteria should be investigated in further studies

Milcherzeugung im ökologischen Landbau

Im Jahr 2003 wurden in Deutschland ca. 410.000 t Milch entsprechend der Richtlinien des ökologischen Landbaus für den Markt erzeugt. Dies entspricht einem Anteil von ca. 1,4 % der gesamten Milchproduktion in Deutschland (BLE, 2004). Im Vergleich zu anderen Ländern wie Schweiz, Österreich oder Dänemark ist dieser Anteil als gering anzusehen – ungeachtet dessen ist die ökologische Milchproduktion in den letzten Jahrzehnten kontinuierlich gestiegen. Sie erhöhte sich 2003, im Vergleich zum Vorjahr, um 8,6 %. Der Anteil von Öko-Milch und Öko-Molkereiprodukten am deutschen Lebensmittelmarkt beträgt 3 – 4 %, ca. 465 Mio Euro. Nach dem starken Absatzanstieg 2001, erfolgte in den Jahren 2002/2003 die Konsolidierung. Seit Ende 2003 stieg die Nachfrage wieder an. (BLE, 2004). Allgemein wird erwartet, dass ökologisch erzeugte Lebensmittel und damit auch Biomilch in den nächsten Jahren ihr Nischendasein verlassen werden (Hamm & Michelsen 2000, Hahn 2000). Dies darf nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen, dass sich der Auszahlungspreis in der Regel am Preis für konventionell erzeugte Milch orientiert. Dieser ist in den letzten Jahren weiter unter Druck geraten, so dass auch eine rentable Öko-Milcherzeugung nicht leichter wird

Parasitenbelastung und Milchqualität bei Schafen und Ziegen im Ökologischen Landbau

Effects of subclinical parasitism on productivity parameters like milk yield and fat have been described previously in cows. Until now only a few data were reported for goats and ewes. Two main topics of the institute’s research focus on milking of small ruminants and strategies to reduce anthelmintic treatments. In 2003 45 goats and 19 sheep were monitored during lactation. Milk yield and milk composition (fat, protein, lactose) were registered monthly. Every two weeks, samples for cytobacteriological analysis were gained of each half of the udder. At the end of April the grazing season started and individual faecal samples were collected monthly. In September a part of the goats showed signs of clinical parasitism and a deworming was carried out. The ewes were only low infected and had a very stable udder health. Thus, they were excluded from the analyses. A first data evaluation showed no significant relationship between the severity of the infection with gastro-intestinalnematodes (GIN), estimated by the number of eggs counted in the faeces (FEC), and milk yield and milk quality. In a second step, animals were grouped according to the course of infection in “mild” and “serious”. “Mild” means that an FEC over 300 Epg was only registered at the end of the investigation period in August. Compared with the “mild” group, the FEC of animals with “serious” infection courses immediately increased after the beginning of grazing. The new analyses revealed differences between these groups for the content of lactose and protein, even if they were not statistically significant. During mid of July and August, when the prevalence of GIN was highest, the group with the “mild” course of infection showed a lower decrease of milk production com-pared with the higher infected group. However, further research is needed to evaluate, and maybe confirm our observations that the course of infection with GIN might be an interesting parameter to express the resistance to parasitic diseases in goats and might be related to the parameters of milk production and composition

Endoparasiten und Milchqualität bei Ziegen im Ökologischen Landbau

Effects of subclinical parasitism on productivity parameters like milk yield and fat have been described previously in cows. Until now only a few data were reported for goats. Two main topics of the institute’s research focus on milking of small ruminants and strategies to reduce anthelmintic treatments. In 2003 45 goats were monitored during lactation. Milk yield and milk composition (fat, protein, lactose) were registered monthly. Every two weeks, samples for cyto-bacteriological analysis were gained of each half of the udder. At the end of April the grazing season started and individual faecal samples were collected monthly. A first data evaluation showed no significant relationship between the severity of the infection with gastro-intestinal-strongyloides (GIS), estimated by the number of eggs counted in the faeces (FEC), and milk yield and milk quality . In a second step, animals were grouped according to their course of infection in “mild” and “serious”. “Mild” means that an FEC over 300 Epg was only registered at the end of the investigation period in August. Compared with the “mild” group, the FEC of animals with “serious” infection courses immediately increased after the beginning of grazing. The new analyses revealed differences between these groups for the content of lactose and protein, even if they were not statistically significant. During mid of July and August, when the prevalence of GIS was highest, the group with the “mild” course of infection showed a lower decrease of milk production compared with the higher infected group. No relationship could be found between FEC or course of infection and udder health. However, further research is needed to evaluate, and maybe confirm our observations that the course of infection with GIS might be an interesting parameter to express the resistance to parasitic diseases in goats and might be related to the parameters of milk production and composition

Selektives Trockenstellen von Eutervierteln ein Ansatz zum gezielten Einsatz von Antibiotika

Antibiotic treatment in animal husbandry is under discussion. In dairy farming treatment of cows at drying off is an important application of antibiotics. We investigated whether a quarter-selective antibiotic treatment causes results comparable to blank dry cow therapy. The study was done in two research herds which differed in prevalence of major and minor mastitis pathogens. The quarter-selective dry cow therapy with antibiotics revealed no disadvantages as long as hygienic standards were kept high

Untersuchungen zu langfristigen Auswirkungen der muttergebundenen Aufzucht von weiblichen Kälbern in der ökologischen Milchviehhaltung

Üblicherweise werden heute Kuh und Kalb frühzeitig nach der Geburt getrennt und das Kalb künstlich aufgezogen. Die mutter- oder ammengebundene Kälberaufzucht ermöglicht den Kälbern das Saugen sowie den Kontakt zu mindestens einem adulten Sozialpartner. Das Projekt untersuchte die Effekte der Aufzucht auf die Gesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit sowie das Verhalten der Färsen und Kühe, die muttergebunden aufgezogen wurden. Dafür wurden Experimente und eine Felderhebung durchgeführt. Es zeigte sich, dass muttergebunden aufgezogene erstlaktierende Kühe unter den Bedingungen einer kurzzeitigen sozialen Isolation ihre Umgebung aktiver erkundeten als das bei künstlich aufgezogenen Tieren der Fall war. Hinsichtlich des Verhaltens bei der Eingliederung in eine bestehende Milchkuhherde wurden keine Unterschiede der Aufzuchtform sichtbar, allerdings stellte die Eingliederung einen erheblichen Stress für alle Tiere dar, der nachhaltig Auswirkungen auf das Aktivitätsmuster hatte. Langfristig zeigten sich unter den Bedingungen der Versuchsstation keine Auswirkungen der Aufzucht auf die Tiergesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit, was auf die gleichwertige Ernährung der beiden Versuchsgruppen im Kälberalter zurückzuführen ist. Die Feldstudie mit 20 Betrieben, davon elf mit muttergebundener Aufzucht, erbrachte auch keine Hinweise auf bessere Leistungen mutter- bzw. ammengebunden aufgezogener Tiere in den Laktationen, was mit der eingeschränkten Milchversorgung zu erklären ist: Der Großteil der untersuchten Praxisbetriebe lässt mehr als ein Kalb bei den Kühen saugen, so dass die im Experiment beobachteten Milchaufnahmen bis zu 16 Litern je Tier und Tag sicher nicht erreicht werden. Um die Beziehung der Tiere zum Menschen zu prüfen, wurden Ausweichdistanztests durchgeführt. Dabei zeigten sich keine Unterschiede zwischen den Aufzuchtformen, so dass die Aufzucht an der Kuh nicht zwangsläufig eine größere Distanz zum Menschen mit sich bringt. Die muttergebundene Kälberaufzucht führt nicht per se zu höheren Leistungen als Milchkuh, allerdings hat sie nachhaltige Effekte auf das Tierverhalten

Interdisziplinär betrachtet: Gesundheit- und Leistungsfähigkeit von Milchkühen im Ökologischen Landbau

Mastitis, metabolic disorders and lameness are still the most important diseases in German organic dairy herds and cause enormous financial losses as well as pain in the animals suffering from these diseases. This project focuses on the development of prevention-oriented health management strategies in organic dairy farms and aims to validate this approach through an interdisciplinary on-farm intervention study. In total 14 institutions are involved. To assess the risk of metabolic disorders and mastitis a national field survey of 100 organic dairy farms is used considering the system of production from the plant populations of the grassland, the quality of feedstuff to housing conditions and milk quality to name but a few examples of the data recorded during farm visits. The study relies on a small team of scientists and consultants and is complemented by investigations carried out on experimental stations. These experiments deal with the improvement of grassland, feed intake, and the relation between metabolic disorders and udder infections

Vergleich von zwei Rinderrassen hinsichtlich ihrer Eignung zur Ökologischen Milchproduktion – Teilfrage: Tiergesundheit

According to the rules of organic farming, prophylaxis shall be supported by selection of appropriate breeds. Nevertheless, today high yielding breeds predominate in organic dairy herds. Since 2004 the Institute of Organic Farming in Trenthorst compares two breeds under the same management conditions on its experimental farm. The evaluation of the data gained between March 2006 and March 2008 revealed a higher treatment rate in the milk orientated Holstein-Friesian cows compared to the German Red Pied, a local dual purpose breed. Although treatment of claw disorders were much more frequent in Holstein-Friesian cows, the lameness scoring carried out every fortnight did not show any difference between the two breeds (Chi2 3=3.506, n. s.). In 24 of 134 cases, cows needed support during calving but the frequency did not differ between the groups (Chi2 2=0.125, n. s.). Due to the low cell frequency the reasons for culling could not be evaluated, yet. Even if a comparison of breeds has to take into account the genotype-environment-interactions, these first results show no clear advantage of an assumed robust breed under the conditions of our organic farm