Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T18:16:52.004Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Peripartum health and welfare of Holstein-Friesian cows in a confinement-TMR system compared to a pasture-based system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

G Olmos ,
JF Mee ,
A Hanlon ,
J Patton ,
JJ Murphy  and
L Boyle
G Olmos*
Affiliation:
Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, Herts AL9 7TA, UK Teagasc, Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, Fermoy, Co Cork, Ireland School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, UCD, Belfield 4, Dublin, Ireland
JF Mee
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, Fermoy, Co Cork, Ireland
A Hanlon
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, UCD, Belfield 4, Dublin, Ireland
J Patton
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, Fermoy, Co Cork, Ireland
JJ Murphy
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, Fermoy, Co Cork, Ireland
L Boyle
Affiliation:
Teagasc, Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre, Fermoy, Co Cork, Ireland
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The greatest challenge to the welfare of dairy cows occurs in the peripartum period. Given the perception that cow welfare is better in more natural environments, it was hypothesised that cows in a PASTURE-based production system (cubicle housing with grass silage pre-partum and rotational grazing with concentrate supplementation post-partum) would have improved peripartal welfare compared to cows in a HOUSED production system (cubicle housing with a total mixed ration [TMR], pre-partum and post-partum). Blood samples were analysed for acute phase proteins (APP), cortisol, white blood cell (WBC) differential and counts and other biochemical metabolites as non-specific indicators of sub-clinical ill-health and nutritional stress. Daily monitoring of rectal temperature (RT) and rumen fill (RF) scores were used to monitor ill-health and nutritional status. Reproductive health and welfare (calving difficulty, retained placenta, puerperal metritis, endometritis and oestrous cyclicity) was also recorded. No differences were found between treatments for APP, cortisol or WBC. Blood metabolite differences indicated that PASTURE cows were under greater nutritional stress than HOUSED cows. HOUSED cows showed an increase in RF score from day 0 to 10 post-partum and had a higher RF score than PASTURE cows. PASTURE cows had an overall lower RT and lower incidence of reproductive disorders. Results primarily reflect nutritional differences between treatments with PASTURE cows showing greater potential nutritional/metabolic stress in early lactation which has attendant implications for welfare. Nevertheless, this did not result in inferior health and, in accordance with our hypothesis, PASTURE cows’ reproductive health and welfare tended to be better than that of HOUSED cows.

Keywords

animal welfarecubicle-houseddairy cowhealthpasture-basedperipartum
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 18 , Issue 4: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , November 2009 , pp. 467 - 476
Copyright
© 2009 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Bobe, G, Young, JW and Beitz, DC 2004 Invited review: Pathology, etiology, prevention, and treatment of fatty liver in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 87: 3105–3124CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brand, A, Noordhuizen, JPTM and Schukken, YH 2001 Herd Health and Production Management in Dairy Practice. Wageningen Pers: Wageningen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Goff, JP 2004 Macromineral disorders of the transition cow. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice 20: 471–494CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goff, JP 2008 Immune suppression around the time of calving and the impact of metabolic disease. Hungarian Veterinary Journal 130: 39–41Google Scholar
Grummer, RR, Mashek, DG and Hayirli, A 2004 Dry matter intake and energy balance in the transition period. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice 20: 447–470CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hachenberg, S, Weinkauf, C, Hiss, S and Sauerwein, H 2007 Evaluation of classification modes potentially suitable to identify metabolic stress in healthy dairy cows during the peripartal period. Journal of Animal Science 85: 1923–1932CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hopster, H, Phillips, CJC, Knierim, U, Waiblinger, S, Lindfors, L, Krohn, CC, Canali, E, Valk, H, Veissier, I and Beerda, B 2006 Welfare aspects of dairy cows in Western European countries in the context of zero grazing systems. In: van der Honing, Y (ed) The 57th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production pp 73. 17-20 September 2006, Antalya, TurkeyGoogle Scholar
Humblet, M, Guyot, H, Boundry, B, Mbayahi, F, Hanzen, H, Rollin, F and Godeau, J 2006 Relationship between haptoglobin, serum amyloid A, and clinical status in a survey of dairy herds during 6-month period. Veterinary Clinical Pathology 35: 188–193Google Scholar
Ingvartsen, KL 2006 Feeding- and management-related diseases in the transition cow: Physiological adaptations around calving and strategies to reduce feeding-related diseases. Animal Feed Science and Technology 126: 175–213Google Scholar
Kennedy, E, O’Donovan, M, Murphy, JP, Delaby, L and O’Mara, F 2005 Effects of grass pasture and concentrate-based feeding systems for spring-calving dairy cows in early spring on performance during lactation. Grass and Forage Science 60: 310–318CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mee, JF 2004 Managing the dairy cow at calving time. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice 20: 521–546CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mee, JF, Olmos, G, Boyle, L and Palmer, M 2008 Estrus expression in spring-calving dairy cows at pasture or in cubicle accommodation. In: Boyle, L, O’Connell, N and Hanlon, A (eds) Proceeding of the 42nd Congress of the ISAE pp 102, Dublin, IrelandGoogle Scholar
Mee, JF, Buckley, F, Ryan, D and Dillon, P 2009 Pre-breeding ovaro-uterine ultrasonography and its relationship with first service conception rate in seasonal-calving dairy herds. Reproduction in Domestic Animals 44(2): 331–337CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oetzel, GR 2004 Monitoring and testing dairy herds for metabolic disease. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice 20: 651–674CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Farrell, KJ, MacCarthy, DD, Crinion, RAP and Sherington, J 1986 Metabolic profiles of dairy cows 1. The effects of season, nitrogen level and stocking rate. Irish Veterinary Journal 40: 42–52Google Scholar
Olmos, G, Boyle, L, Hanlon, A, Patton, J, Murphy, JJ and Mee, JF 2009 Hoof disorders, locomotion ability and lying times of cubicle-housed compared to pasture-based dairy cows. Livestock Science 125: 199–207CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patton, J, Olmos, G, O’Donovan, M and Murphy, JJ 2008 Comparison of total mixed ration and pasture feeding system for early lactation dairy cows. Agricultural Research Forum: 30Google Scholar
Petersen, HH, Nielsen, JP and Heegaard, PMH 2004 Application of acute phase protein measurements in veterinary clinical chemistry. Veterinary Research 35: 163–187CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollott, GE and Coffey, MP 2008 The effect of genetic merit and production system on dairy cow fertility, measured using progesterone profiles and on-farm recording. Journal of Dairy Science 91: 3649–3660CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radostits, OM, Gay, CC, Hinchcliff, KW and Constable, PD 2007 Veterinary Medicine. Saunders-Elsevier: Philadelphia, USAGoogle Scholar
Royal, MD, Darwash, AO, Flint, APF, Weeb, R, Woolliams, JA and Lamming, GE 2000 Declining fertility in dairy cattle: changes in traditional and endocrine parameters of fertility. Animal Science 70: 487–501CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheldon, IM, Lewis, GS, LeBlanc, S and Gilbert, RO 2006 Defining postpartum uterine disease in cattle. Theriogenology 65: 1516–1530CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sheldon, IM, Rycroft, AN and Zhou, C 2004 Association between postpartum pyrexia and uterine bacterial infection in dairy cattle. Veterinary Record 154: 289–293CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, BI and Risco, CA 2005 Management of periparturient disorders in dairy cattle. The Veterinary Clinics of North America. Food Animal Practice 21: 503–521Google ScholarPubMed
Zaaijer, D and Noordhuizen, JPTM 2003 A novel scoring system for monitoring the relationship between nutritional efficiency and fertility in dairy cows. Irish Veterinary Journal 56: 145–156Google Scholar