Abstract #T17
Section: Animal Health
Session: Animal Health II
Format: Poster
Day/Time: Tuesday 7:30 AM–9:30 AM
Location: Exhibit Hall B
Session: Animal Health II
Format: Poster
Day/Time: Tuesday 7:30 AM–9:30 AM
Location: Exhibit Hall B
# T17
Evaluation of the effects of metabolic diseases during the transition period on the culling risk of high-yielding dairy cows by survival analysis.
M. Probo1, O. Bogado Pascottini*2, S. LeBlanc2, G. Opsomer3, M. Hostens3, 1Central Laboratory, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Lodi, Italy, 2Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, 3Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
Key Words: dairy cow, metabolic disease, survival analysis
Evaluation of the effects of metabolic diseases during the transition period on the culling risk of high-yielding dairy cows by survival analysis.
M. Probo1, O. Bogado Pascottini*2, S. LeBlanc2, G. Opsomer3, M. Hostens3, 1Central Laboratory, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Lodi, Italy, 2Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada, 3Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
The objective was to assess the effects of individual and multiple metabolic diseases (MD; MD+) in the transition period (±3 wk relative to calving) on the culling risk in the first 120 d in milk (DIM) in Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. We analyzed health records of all 1,946 calvings during a 1 year period from a transition management facility located in Germany (herd average 305-d milk 11,085 kg) using survival analysis. The overall culling risk to 120 DIM was 18%. The 120 DIM survival risk for healthy cows (72% of the total) was 87%, while it was 75% for MD (24%) and 67% for MD+ (4%) cows. The monitored MD were twinning (TWIN), milk fever (MF; diagnosed by clinical signs), retention of fetal membranes (RFM; placenta not expelled ≥24 h after parturition), metritis (MT; fetid uterine discharge and fever (≥39.5°C) < 21 DIM), ketosis (KT; urine ketone bodies ≥500 μmol/L), displaced abomasum (DA; based on clinical signs e.g., tympanic resonance on percussion of the left flank), and clinical mastitis (MAST; udder inflammation/abnormal milk within 30 DIM). The incidence risks and 120 DIM survival rates for each MD and MD+ are depicted in Table1. Setting the healthy cows as reference, the 120 DIM hazard ratios for culling were MD 2.1; MD+ 2.9; TWIN 2.8; TWIN+ 3.0; MF 3.3; MF+ 4.6; RFM+ 2.7; MT+ 1.8; KT 2.6; KT+ 3.3; DA 5.5; DA+ 4.5; MAST 3.1; and MAST+ 2.3 (all P ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, the presence of MD or MD+ during the transition period was associated with increased culling rate in the first 120 DIM. The culling hazard was greater when a MD was complicated with another metabolic disease (MD+). In this case, the study performed in a well-managed large farm, uncomplicated cases of RFM and MT did not have an influence on the 120 DIM culling risk.
Table 1. Incidence and 120 DIM survival rates of MD and MD+ diagnosed during the transition period in 1,946 dairy cows in 1 herd in Germany
| Variable | TWIN | TWIN+ | MF | MF+ | RFM | RFM+ | MT | MT+ | KT | KT+ | DA | DA+ | MAST | MAST+ |
| 120 DIM survival (%) | 69.7 | 66 | 65.4 | 52 | 85 | 68.5 | 90.6 | 77.8 | 69.3 | 62.7 | 43.8 | 53.2 | 63.4 | 72.2 |
| Lactational incidence risk (%) | 1.7 | 2.7 | 4 | 2.6 | 1 | 2.8 | 8.7 | 6 | 4.5 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 1.8 |
Key Words: dairy cow, metabolic disease, survival analysis
