Lavt forbrug af antibiotika i økologiske malkekvægsbesætninger

De økologiske principper lægger stærk vægt på, at sygdomme skal forebygges, og at fokus skal være på dyrenes velfærd og at undgå sygdom. Dette afspejles i reglerne for økologisk husdyrhold, som absolut ikke forleder én til at betragte medicin og sygdomsbehandling som en ’smart og billig genvej til sygdomsfrihed i besætningen’. EU-reglerne anviser, at alternativer til antibiotika skal foretrækkes, hvis de har en dokumenteret effekt. De økologiske regler i USA er endnu mere restriktive. Der mister et dyr den økologiske status for altid efter antibiotikabehandling og anvendelsen er derfor meget begrænset. Alle regelsæt har dog en fælles hovedvægt på sundheds- og velfærdsfremme og at holde dyrene sunde og robuste. Der er efterhånden samlet mange erfaringer ind fra økologiske besætninger, som har nedsat deres antibiotikaforbrug ganske væsentligt over de seneste år. I projektet ECOVIT (’Sundhedsfremme i økologiske besætninger’) undersøger vi forholdene omkring lavt forbrug af antibiotika og behandlinger, der kan være et alternativ til antibiotika. I projektet ANIPLAN (’Minimising medi-cine use in organic dairy herds through animal health and welfare planning’) arbejder vi sammen med 6 andre europæiske lande om at finde frem til principper for aktiv planlægning i besætningen for bedre velfærd og sundhed. I projektgruppen i ECOVIT syntes vi, at det var på tide at samle trådene og diskutere både erfaringerne fra økologiske landmænd, som vi har interviewet, og fra besætninger, som vi har undersøgt. Der er gennemført velfærdsvurderinger i en del besætninger, og data er analyseret fra en lang række besætninger. Det er baggrunden for denne workshop, som blev afholdt på Forskningscenter Foulum i december 2009. Vi har samlet indlæggene på forskellig vis – som de præsentationer, der blev givet eller i form af skrevne indlæg – og har opsummeret eftermiddagens diskussion

Reducing use of antimicrobials — Experiences from an intervention study in organic dairy herds in Denmark

With the aim of phasing out the use of antimicrobials 23 Danish organic dairy producers from the same organic dairy company participated in Stable School farmer groups from February 2004 to March 2005 in order to go through a common learning and development process towards their common goal. Data on production and herd health were evaluated from two years before to three years after the start of the Stable Schools. For comparison, data was collected from the remaining 35 herds delivering to the same dairy company, 118 organic dairy herds delivering to other dairies and 115 conventional herds. On average, the project herds were smaller with lower production and had half the incidence rate of mastitis treatment than the organic herds from other dairies before the start of the project. The incidence rate of mastitis treatments was reduced considerably from 20 treatments per 100 cow years to 10 treatments per 100 cow years after the project period. Somatic cell count (SCC) and scores for acute and chronic intramammary infections did not change significantly during the study period, and milk production increased at the same rate as in the other herd groups. The incidence rate of mastitis treatments or the reduction of the incidence rate could be related to the herd SCC or the prevalence of blind quarters. The incidence rates of locomotive disorders and reproductive disorders were lower in the project herds compared with herds from other dairies before the project start, and the differences increased during the project period though the reduction of the incidence rates in the project herds was not statistically significant. It is concluded that the farmers participating in the Stable Schools managed to reduce the use of antimicrobials in their herds also after the project period without apparent negative effects on production and udder and herd health

Development and Daily Management of an Explicit Strategy of Nonuse of Antimicrobial Drugs in Twelve Danish Organic Dairy Herds

Promotion of animal health and well-being at the individual animal and herd level is an important goal in organic farming. At the same time, chemical products affecting the natural balance among living organisms are prohibited in all areas of the organic farm. From an animal welfare point of view, however, no animal must suffer. Therefore, veterinary drugs are allowed under the European Union’s regulations for organic farming, despite the fact that they are powerful cell toxins affecting both pathogenic and necessary bacteria, and as such in organic terminology, are regarded as “chemical” or “artificial” products. In this article, we present and discuss interviews with 12 Danish organic dairy producers who claim that minimized use or nonuse of antimicrobial drugs is an explicit goal. The dairy producers were at different levels with regard to reduced antimicrobial treatment. An explicit strategy of no antimicrobial treatments is based primarily on a long-term effort to improve herd health, and secondarily, on finding alternative treatments for diseased animals. Improved hygiene, outdoor access, use of nursing cows, and blinding of chronic mastitis quarters were the main techniques in developing a strategy of not using antimicrobial treatments in the herd by dairy producers. Producers’ perception of disease changed from something unavoidable to a disturbing break in the daily rhythm that often could have been avoided. Change toward a nonantimicrobial strategy was gradual and stepwise. All dairy producers in this study desired to preserve the possibility of using antimicrobial drugs in emergencies

Danish Stable Schools for Experiential Common Learning in Groups of Organic Dairy Farmers

The farmer field school (FFS) is a concept for farmers’ learning, knowledge exchange, and empowerment that has been developed and used in developing countries. In Denmark, a research project focusing on explicit nonantibiotic strategies involves farmers who have actively expressed an interest in phasing out antibiotics from their herds through promotion of animal health. One way of reaching this goal was to form participatory focused farmer groups in an FFS approach, which was adapted to Danish conditions and named “stable schools.” Four stable schools were established and went through a 1-yr cycle with 2 visits at each of the 5 or 6 farms connected to each group. A facilitator was connected to each group whose role was to write the meeting agenda together with the host farmer, direct the meeting, and write the minutes to send to the group members ater the meeting. Through group focus interviews and individual semistructured qualitative interviews of all participants, the approach of the farmers’ goal-directed work toward a common goal was judged to be very valuable and fruitful and based on a common learning process. Complex farming situations were the focus of all groups and in this context, problems were identified and solutions proposed based on each farmer’s individual goals. In this article, we describe the experiences of 4 stable school groups (each comprising farmers and a facilitator), and the common process of building a concept that is suitable for Danish organic dairy farming

Sundhed og velfærd i kalveholdet

Gennem de seneste år har vi arbejdet med en forståelse af dyrevelfærd i økologiske besætninger, hvor begrebet “naturlighed” har fået stor betydning. I en malkekvægbesætning er det ikke muligt at tilbyde køerne 100% naturlige forhold, men man kan tilstræbe at dyrene får mulighed for at udføre deres naturlige adfærd, har en stor grad af valgfrihed, har frisk luft, dagslys og adgang til udearealer. Det stiller imidlertid større krav til de mennesker, som arbejder med dyrene, bl.a. i forhold til øget opsyn samt til bedre at kunne vurdere, hvordan dyrene har det. I projektet er der bl.a. blevet udviklet en model til vurdering af velfærd hos kalve. Den første version er blevet implementeret i rådgivning af økologiske besætninger. Den forventes endvidere afprøvet i Norge, Storbritannien og Holland

Evaluation of Calcium Hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) Used in Footbaths as Treatment and Prevention of Digital Dermatitis in Danish Dairy Cattle

Digital dermatitis is a major problem in the dairy production in many countries. Footbaths have been the preferred method in the control of digital dermatitis, and various products are used in despite of a lack of scientific evidence of the effect. The objective was to evaluate calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) used in footbaths as treatment and prevention of digital dermatitis. The study was conducted as a clinical trial in 4 commercial Danish dairy herds including 405 cows. Ca(OH)2 is an alkaline disinfectant which is recommended in footbaths to control digital dermatitis by some Danish hoof trimmers. The footbath used in the study was a commercial available split-footbath, which made it possible to treat one side of the cow and using the other side as a negative control. Digital dermatitis lesions were registered in a trimming chute at the start of the study. The prevalence of active digital dermatitis lesions in the hind legs was 40 % for treatment legs and 39.3 % for control legs. For the forelegs the prevalence was 4.0 % and 10.9 %, respectively. All the cows walked through the footbath three times a week for the first two weeks and then only twice a week for six weeks. Registration of digital dermatitis lesions in the trimming chute was made again after two and eight weeks. The cure effect was defined as a change from active at the first registration to inactive after two or eight weeks. The preventive effect was evaluated from the amount of new cases, which was defined as a case changing from inactive to active after two or eight weeks. A difference was found with regard to the cure effect in the hind legs after eight weeks with cure of 84 % and 67 % of lesions on treatment and control legs, respectively. A difference was also found for new cases in the hind legs after both two and eight weeks with 0.8 % and 6.3 % new cases in treatment and control legs after eight weeks, respectively. In the forelegs differences between treatment and control legs were only significant with regard to the preventive effect after eight weeks with 0% and 2.7% new cases. Chemical burns caused by the Ca(OH)2 were observed in 18 % of the treated hind legs after two weeks and in 0.5 % after eight weeks

Comparison of two strategies for the treatment of retained fetal membranes in dairy cows: Manual removal and administration of local intrauterine antibiotics versus nonremoval and no antibiotics.

This investigation was established in order to evaluate two different strategies for the treatment of retained fetal membranes (RFM) in dairy cows. The study was conducted on 35 organic and 14 conventional dairy farms in Denmark. RFM was defined as fetal membranes not expelled for more than 6 hours but less than 30 hours after calving. In the treatment group (n=61) manually removal of fetal membranes was attempted day 1 post partum, and the cows received intrauterine antibiotic treatment once (500 mg oxytetracyclinhydrochloride). In the control group (n=70) manual removal of fetal membranes was not attempted, and the cows received neither intrauterine nor systemic antibiotic treatment. However, visible parts of the fetal membranes were removed. Rectal temperature was measured daily d 1-5 and once d 7, 10 and 19-26 post partum. In case of symptoms consistent with puerperal metritis (>39.5°C and fetid, watery, and red-brown uterine discharge) cows in both groups received systemic and if possible intrauterine antibiotic (tetracycline) treatment. Cows without fever and cows with fever but without signs consistent with puerperal metritis received no further treatment. Between 19 and 26 days post partum the cows were examined once. The vagina was examined manually and the content was withdrawn for examination. Volume, odour and character were evaluated. The incidence of RFM was 6 % in the herds participating in the investigation. During the observation period 42.9 % of the cows in the control group showed fever (>39.5 °C). In the control group the proportion was 23.0 %. This difference was significant. Within the observation period 21.4 % of the cows in the control group and 8.2% of the cows in the treatment group were affected by puerperal metritis and treated. The difference was not significant, however there might be a tendency (p=0.05) towards more treatments in the control group than in the treatment group. Extension of the observation period resulted in no significant difference between the groups as regards treatments for metritis (p=0.12). After 90 days 8.6 % of the cows in the control group had left the herd, 6.6 % in the treatment group. This difference was not significant. The odour and the vaginal mucus score, days to first service and yield did not differ between the two groups. Yield and days to first service were influenced by parity and farm, i.e. organic or conventional. The results in this investigations indicates that that manual removal of RFM and prophylactic intrauterine antibiotics compared with non-removal of RFM and no antibiotics has no positive effect on yield and days to first service