Foot disorders in dairy cattle : a socio-economic approach to improve dairy cow welfare

Klauwaandoeningen en de kreupelheid die daardoor ontstaat zijn een belangrijk probleem in de huidige melkveehouderij. Op basis van de incidentie, duur en ernst van klauwaandoeningen, worden ze aangemerkt als het belangrijkste welzijnsprobleem. Ondanks dat er veel kennis is over de klauwaandoeningen en de risicofactoren, is het probleem nog niet afgenomen. Bovendien onderschatten melkveehouders de grootte van het probleem van klauwaandoeningen, evenals de relatie met kreupelheid

Assessing the welfare impact of foot disorders in dairy cattle by a modeling approach

Foot disorders are the main cause of dairy cow lameness and are considered to have a major impact on the welfare of dairy cattle. This study adopts a modeling approach, using a dynamic stochastic model, to provide more insight into the welfare impact of different types of foot disorders, both clinical and subclinical. The impact of specific foot disorders on welfare was assessed by simulating the incidence and duration of foot disorders and the pain associated with them. Pain assessment was based on locomotion scores, with underlying knowledge obtained from scientific literature and experts. The results demonstrated the seriousness of the welfare impact of foot disorders. The negative welfare impact was measured on a scale from 0 to 60, where the maximum outcome represents a cow having very severe pain during the whole year. On average, each cow achieves a welfare impact score of 12, which is 20% of the maximum welfare impact score. This welfare score equals having severe pain for a period of 3 months, indicating a serious impact on welfare. On average, digital dermatitis impacts most on welfare, which is caused by a high incidence of the painful clinical stage, followed by sole hemorrhages (SoH) and interdigital dermatitis and heel horn erosion (IDHE). The combination of a high incidence and long duration of SoH and IDHE causes this relatively high welfare impact of foot disorders that occur mostly subclinically. On average, over 1 year, 46% of the welfare impact due to foot disorders is caused by clinical foot disorders. The fact that subclinical foot disorders contribute more or less equally to the effects on welfare as clinical ones, indicates that farmers may readily underestimate the welfare impact by a factor two. Modeling welfare impact at cow level, individual cases of foot disorders, stresses the importance of pain intensity, indicating the importance of clinical foot disorders. This study demonstrated the serious welfare impact of foot disorders in dairy cattle and pointed out the considerable impact of subclinical foot disorders. Furthermore, the approach of welfare assessment, for example herd v. cow level, influenced the ranking of foot disorders for their impact on animal welfare. Potentially, this leads to different prioritization of specific solution strategies for dairy farmers, for example, focusing on cow comfort, hygiene or preventive medical treatments, foot trimming and/or health monitoring. The findings in this study support in raising awareness about this welfare issue

Koematrassen leveren geld op : Wageningen onderzoekt maatregelen klauwgezondheid en houding melkveehouders

Promotieonderzoek aan Wageningen Universiteit brengt het effect van diverse maatregelen op de klauwgezondheid in kaart. Daarnaast is gekeken naar de houding van melkveehouders en hun inschatting van het effect van deze maatregelen

Comfort in stal van de toekomst : nieuw stalconcept heeft geen ligboxen, maar comfortabele vrije ligruimte

De trend naar opstallen zet naar verwachting door. Wageningen UR heeft de knelpunten van de stal in kaart gebracht om welzijn en gezondheid van melkvee te waarborgen. Het resultaat is een nieuw stalconcept: comfortabel, open en niet duu

Comfort in stal van de toekomst : nieuw stalconcept heeft geen ligboxen, maar comfortabele vrije ligruimte

De trend naar opstallen zet naar verwachting door. Wageningen UR heeft de knelpunten van de stal in kaart gebracht om welzijn en gezondheid van melkvee te waarborgen. Het resultaat is een nieuw stalconcept: comfortabel, open en niet duu

Premature culling of production animals; ethical questions related to killing animals in food production

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the importance of longevity in relation to the welfare of production animals. I hypothesize that the concept of longevity helps to support the moral intuition that premature culling of animals is a moral wrong. The analysis shows that the interpretation of the concept of animal welfare is important for decisions on whether or not to cull animals, but also for the measures that should be taken to prevent premature culling. This is illustrated by two examples in animal production, one example relating to dairy cattle and the other to breeding sows. These two types of farming have in common that in these practices animals are necessary to produce products, yet this production does not require– the animal itself to be killed. My proposal is to accept the view on animal welfare according to which longevity is accepted as an independent moral argument. Acceptance of this view substantiates the intuition that premature culling of animals is a moral wrong, because it shows that we have additional reasons to give the interests of animals more weight. In order to respect this view, some common practices in animal farming will become the subject of debate, as illustrated in the two cases

Measures to improve dairy cow foot health: consequences for farmer income and dairy cow welfare

Dairy farming in western countries with cubicle housing is an efficient way of dairy farming. Though, a disadvantage is the high prevalence and incidence of foot disorders (clinical and subclinical), which cause high economic losses and also seriously impair the welfare of dairy cattle. To point out the importance of reducing the amount and severity of foot disorders, advice to farmers should include information about the scale of the problem and the consequences in terms of economics and animal welfare. To provide support in making decisions on implementing intervention measures, insight into costs and benefits of different measures should be available. The objective of this study, therefore, is to provide more insight into the costs and benefits, for farmer and cow, of different intervention measures to improve dairy cow foot health. Intervention measures were modeled when they were applicable on a dairy farm with cubicle housing and when sufficient information was available in literature. Net costs were calculated as the difference between the costs of the measure and the economic benefits resulting from the measure. Welfare benefits were calculated as well. Cost-effective measures are: improving lying surface (mattress and bedding, €7 and €1/cow per year, respectively), reducing stocking density (break even) and performing additional foot trimming (€1/cow per year). Simultaneously, these measures have a relative high welfare benefit. Labor costs play an important role in the cost-effectiveness of labor-intensive measures. More insight into cost-effectiveness and welfare benefits of intervention measures can help to prioritize when choosing between intervention measures

Assessing economic consequences of foot disorders in dairy cattle using a dynamic stochastic simulation model

Foot disorders are an important health problem in dairy cattle, in terms of economics and animal welfare. The incidence, severity, and duration of foot disorders account for their importance. Prevalence of both subclinical and clinical foot disorders is high. More insight into the economic consequences could increase awareness among dairy farmers and could be an incentive for them to take action on this problem of animal welfare. The objective of this research was to estimate the economic consequences of different types of foot disorders, both clinical and subclinical. A dynamic stochastic Monte Carlo simulation model was used, taking into account the different types of foot disorders. The economic consequences of the foot disorders modeled were costs due to milk production losses, culling, prolonged calving interval, labor of the dairy farmer and the foot trimmer, visits of a veterinarian, treatment, and discarded milk. Under the milk quota system in the Netherlands, costs due to foot disorders for a default farm with 65 cows averaged $4,899 per year (ranging from$3,217 to $7,001), an annual loss of$75 per cow. This calculation implies that the costs due to foot disorders are more substantial than farmers might think. The costs of subclinical foot disorders account for 32% of all costs due to foot disorders. The costs due to foot disorders that are present without treatment or detection by the farmer are considerable. This finding implies that farmers might underestimate the benefits of taking action earlier and more thoroughly. A clinical foot disorder costs, on average, $95, and a subclinical foot disorder$18. The highest costs classified by foot disorder were those due to digital dermatitis, which has a high incidence and relatively high clinical prevalence. The highest costs classified by cost factor were those due to milk production losses and culling. Sensitivity analysis showed that variables regarding milk production were important for economic costs due to foot disorders. Furthermore, the probability of getting a foot disorder and probability of cure were important for estimating the costs due to foot disorders. Farmer awareness concerning dairy cow foot health and taking action more thoroughly, therefore, could reduce the economic consequences and improve welfare simultaneously

Inzicht in kosten klauwproblemen : per aanwezige melkkoe kosten klauwaandoeningen op een gemiddeld melkveebedrijf jaarlijks 53 euro

Niet direct zichtbare kosten als melkproductieverliezen en verlengde tussenkalftijd blijken bij klauwaandoeningen grote kostenposten. Mortellaro kost de Nederlandse veehouder jaarlijks het meest. Dat blijkt uit de eerste resultaten van promotieonderzoek van Mariëlle Bruijnis aan Wageningen Universiteit