By Barnouin, J., Annales de Recherches Veterinaires, 1986
Description
Observations are made, during the Eco-Pathological Survey (EEPC), about six main clinical diseases of the dairy cow in the aim of studying the relationships between the milk yield level, the milk fat content, and the susceptibility to the major pathological problems (mastitis, metritis, retained placenta, lameness, digital infections, milk fever). Lactations from Black-Pied cows (1,036) and from Red-Pied ones (Montbeliardes, Tachetees de l'Est) (203) are analysed, and breed and lactation number effects are assessed. As a general trend, disease incidence increases with milk yield. For cows in the 2nd lactation or more, maximum daily milk yield increases with increasing number of diseases occurrences during the lactation: cows free of the six studied diseases produce 28 kg vs 29.2 kg for females with one disease, 30.2 kg when two diseases occurred, 31.9 kg for three diseases or more (P less than or equal to 0.001). Mastitis, lameness and digital infections appear as diseases linked with "high yield" (risk threshold between 30 and 35 kg of maximum daily milk yield). The average milk fat content of the cows free of pathology is 1 to 3% higher compared with affected animals. Relationships between milk yield level and susceptibility to disease seem to be included in the definition of the dairy herd of the future
Observations are made, during the Eco-Pathological Survey (EEPC), about six main clinical diseases of the dairy cow in the aim of studying the relationships between the milk yield level, the milk fat content, and the susceptibility to the major pathological problems (mastitis, metritis, retained placenta, lameness, digital infections, milk fever). Lactations from Black-Pied cows (1,036) and from Red-Pied ones (Montbeliardes, Tachetees de l'Est) (203) are analysed, and breed and lactation number effects are assessed. As a general trend, disease incidence increases with milk yield. For cows in the 2nd lactation or more, maximum daily milk yield increases with increasing number of diseases occurrences during the lactation: cows free of the six studied diseases produce 28 kg vs 29.2 kg for females with one disease, 30.2 kg when two diseases occurred, 31.9 kg for three diseases or more (P less than or equal to 0.001). Mastitis, lameness and digital infections appear as diseases linked with "high yield" (risk threshold between 30 and 35 kg of maximum daily milk yield). The average milk fat content of the cows free of pathology is 1 to 3% higher compared with affected animals. Relationships between milk yield level and susceptibility to disease seem to be included in the definition of the dairy herd of the future
We welcome and encourage discussion of our linked research papers. Registered users can post their comments here. New users' comments are moderated, so please allow a while for them to be published.