Influence of digital dermatitis and sole ulcer on dairy cow behaviour and milk production.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the presence of digital dermatitis (DD) and sole ulcer (SU) in dairy cows was associated with changes in behaviour and milk production. Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein cows (mostly in the first to second lactation) were housed in a cubicle system with automatically scraped passageways. After maintenance claw trimming of all the cows in the herd, 10 cows with DD and 10 cows with SU were selected.

Impact of elastic stall partitions on tied dairy cows' behaviour and stall cleanliness.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soft elastic stall partitions on the positions in own or neighbouring stalls by dairy cows, faeces and urine, and of contact between animal and partition. There were two designs of a soft elastic partition, here called I-partition and lambda-partition. The study was performed on a commercial dairy herd where the partitions had been developed.

Survival of salmonellas in urine and dry faeces from cattle--an experimental study.

In order to contribute to the understanding of Salmonella transmission via animal excretes the survival of Salmonellas in cattle urine and in dry cow faeces was studied. It was shown that in urine, separated in the gutter without active mixing with faeces, Salmonella did not survive more than 5 days. In dry cow faeces on different stall surfaces Salmonella Dublin were found to survive for almost 6 years on the 4 tested surface materials.

A disease monitoring system for dairy herds.

A system for recording and evaluating disease, intended for both dairy herd health monitoring and research purposes, is described. The system was initiated in 1960 with the objective of providing a research database and it has been developed to respond to the herd health management needs of modern farmers and veterinarians. The system is probably one of the oldest disease recording systems in existence and has contributed to the expansion of epidemiological knowledge of dairy cattle diseases and has helped to improve the health management of dairy herds.

Epidemiological study of clinical mastitis in dairy cattle.

The incidence rate of clinical mastitis in primiparous Swedish Friesian cows was 15%. The risk of mastitis was greater for calving in July and August and increased with age at calving. Calving disorders and ketosis increased the risk of mastitis 1.