The importance of teat canal integrity and its adjacent tissues in the dynamics of IMI is well documented, whereas research on the relationship between teat skin condition and clinical mastitis occurrence is scarce. The objective of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the association of teat skin condition with clinical mastitis occurrence in a closed cohort from a commercial dairy farm with a thrice daily milking schedule in the Northeast United States. We tested the hypothesis that quarters with teats with altered skin condition would have higher odds of clinical mastitis than those with normal skin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this study was to evaluate four different automated activity monitoring (AAM) systems to identify anovulatory cows in early lactation. A total of 852 lactating Holstein cows (221 primiparous and 631 multiparous cows) from four commercial dairy herds were enrolled. On each farm, cows were equipped with a respective AAM system (SB: Smartbow; HT: Heatime; DP: Delpro; and CM: CowManager).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCalf loss continues to be a considerable problem on German dairy farms. Untrained personnel or the lack of best practice routines are potential reasons. Standard operating procedures (SOP) may increase process consistency and can improve animal health and animal welfare.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of this observational study was to evaluate the efficacy of a neck-mounted automated activity monitor (AAM) at detecting early postpartum resumed ovarian cyclicity. A total of 192 lactating cows (primiparous = 73 and multiparous = 119) were enrolled in this study. Cows were continuously monitored by a neck-mounted AAM early postpartum (7 to 30 d in milk; DIM).
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