NEWS

A Hot Topic

It is the middle of a long dry summer in Colorado and this issue of the Colorado Dairy News has a lot of information for you to read while seeking relief from the heat.  This month we focus on animal welfare, always a hot topic!  The House subcommittee on agriculture held a hearing on animal welfare of food animals on May 12, 2007.  Click on the link below for more information on participants and their opening statements.

General Farm Commodities & Risk Management - Public Hearing

Colorado Equipment's Farm Show

Are you listening to The Colorado Equipment Show?  This is a 30-minute agricultural program heard at 7 a.m. Saturday mornings on News-Talk 1310 AM KFKA News, or streaming online at http://www.1310kfka.com.  The show is hosted by Keith Maxey, Extension Agent in Weld County.  A wide variety of topics are covered that focus on issues and events that are relevant to crop and livestock producers, as well as small acreage owners in northeastern Colorado.  We hope to be able to podcast relevant segments through the Newsletter in future months!

August 2
Meg Collins, Colorado Livestock Association

August 9
Mark Sponslor, Colorado Corn Growers Assn.
Assefa Gebre-Amlak, Extension Pest Management Specialist, Northern Region  (One additional guest, yet to be determined)

August 16
Page Dinsmore, CSU Veterinary Medicine, ILM team member
Dana Thompson, Colorado Farm Bureau - invited

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Jon Slutsky, who won the free registration to the Colorado Nutrition Conference on January 28, 2008!  Thanks for the input from everyone. 

Animal Welfare Topics

The articles linked to this issue were originally published by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners in their journals or annual proceedings, which are sent only to the members of the organization.  The governing board of the AABP has kindly allowed us to share them with our readers.  Thank you  to AABP and especially Dr. Robert Smith, who helped us attain this permission.  This is a great opportunity to access information directly from experts on a topic that has great significance for our industry.  Enjoy!

Animal Welfare Overview

Franklyn B. Garry, DVM, MS
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Dairy production systems in the US have changed considerably over the last several decades due to forces that promote economic efficiency of production and to scientific and technological advances that afford opportunities for change. Societal values and concerns about animal wellbeing and specifically about livestock production systems and their impact on animal well-being have also changed throughout that time. It would be worthwhile for dairy producers and  veterinarians to critically evaluate production practices for their impact on the animals. Optimizing animal well-being is not only a moral imperative, but should also assure optimal animal productivity. This manuscript attempts to summarize industry changes that impact dairy animal management, and to highlight areas of real or perceived concern about dairy animal welfare that warrant careful attention by producers and veterinarians. This material was originally published as a chapter in the book The Well-Being of Farm Animals: Challenges and Solutions¹, GJ Benson and BE Rollin, eds, Iowa State University Press, 2004. Some readers may wish to see that book for thoughts on animal welfare in other livestock production industries.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE STUDY

Animal Welfare Audits

Jim Reynolds, DVM, MPVM
UC Davis School of
Veterinary Medicine

Consumers of dairy products look to veterinarians and producers to ensure humane care is provided to farm animals. Animal welfare is a consensus of opinions, and what is considered acceptable welfare, or husbandry, changes over time. Animal welfare can be assessed or described in three different approaches: animal bodies (physiologic, production, disease), animal natures (comparison to similar animals in nature) and animal minds (feelings, suffering).  All three approaches should be considered when judging animal welfare. Audits are structured events so they can be repeatable and defendable. Auditors should have education in the given species and experience in the industry to evaluate different housing and management systems. The goal of an auditor is not to pass or fail the farm, but to determine if the agreed-on processes are being carried out. The auditor is verifying the welfare of the animals to consumers and retailers and is neutral to the farm. Training for auditors covers the welfare issues of the species, some industry standards, and how to perform an audit and comply with that company's requirements. The Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) will certify the training of individual auditors and also the actual audit forms or processes of companies doing audits.  PAACO will, in the future, provide training for people wanting to be certified to audit each species of farm animal, but who have not received training elsewhere.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Building Better Barns

Daniel M. Weary, PhD
Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk, PhD
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Design and management of the feeding area are important. High stocking densities at the feed bunk increase aggressive competition and keep subordinate cows away from feed. Physical barriers between cows, including head lockers and feed stalls, can help reduce this competition and increase feeding time. Cows like softer surfaces, for both lying down and for standing upon. Deep-bedded stalls work well for cow comfort, but require maintenance. When it comes to physical structures used to build freestalls, less is more.  The hardware we place in the stall is for our benefit, and not the cow's. The more restrictive we design stalls, the less attractive they become for the cow. Use of restrictive stall designs can help keep stalls clean, but to avoid problems with hoof health these designs need to be accompanied by better flooring options, such as softer and drier flooring.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Commingling Dairy Cows

Pen Moves, Stocking Density and Health
Ken Nordlund, DVM; Nigel Cook, MRCVS; Garrett Oetzel, DVM, MS
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

In modern confinement dairies, cows move between groups depending on management needs for special rations and special handling requirements. With each move, each cow must establish rank within the new group. Extended stays in pens characterized by new arrivals every day appear to present substantial health risks to some cows. Overstocked pens present challenges regarding both stall and feed bunk access. Provision of 30 inches (76 cm) of bunk space per cow in the weeks before and after calving, and minimizing pen moves, appears to be consistent with improved fresh cow health
and productivity.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Dealing with Downers

Jim Reynolds, DVM, MPVM
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Tulare, CA 93274

Down cattle present welfare, food safety and economic problems to
the cattle industry. Decisions must be made quickly to either care for non-ambulatory livestock properly or to humanely euthanize them. USDA estimated that approximately 200,000 down cattle were presented to slaughter facilities in the US in 2003, and that almost 5% of dairy cattle became non-ambulatory in 2005. Causes are injuries related to dystocia, infectious diseases (toxic mastitis, toxic metritis, lymphoma, peritonitis, septicemia) and metabolic disorders (hypocalcemia, hypomagnesmia, hypophosphatemia, hypokalemia, acidosis). If the animal is suffering and the pain or distress cannot be controlled or is not likely to be controlled quickly, the animal should be euthanized. Treatment includes nursing care that provides comfortable bedding, shelter, food and water, and protection from other cattle and wildlife as well as medical care. Down cattle can be moved on sleds, belts or carefully in tractor buckets, but should not be dragged except in emergency situations. Non-ambulatory cattle cannot be left without water, feed and shelter. Public health issues involve increasing pathogen loads (salmonella, E. coli, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)) and tissue residues at slaughter. Current USDA rules curtail the slaughter of down cattle in the US. Economic costs relate to replacement, treatment and nursing care,  and potential effects on milk and meat markets (consumer acceptance); 77% of consumers polled replied that they found it unacceptable that downed animals were used for food.  

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Costs of Lameness

Charles Guard, Cornell University

Quantifying the amount of lameness in a herd requires data from the observations of hoof trimmers, veterinarians and farm workers. The quality and accessibility of this data varies widely across dairies.
Opinions and historical recall of past circumstances are of little value in management decisions. The incidence rates for treated cases can be determined from hard data, and are the only reliable means of quantifying herd problems.  Three categories of disease, infectious or claw horn lesions or overwear/trauma, are important in formulating control strategies as each occurs from different risk factors. The prevalence of lameness is measured by locomotion
scoring. Simple systems that classify cows as lame or not lame are preferred. Prevalence depends on both the incidence and the management of treated cases.  Herds with aggressive detection and intervention practices may have low prevalence of lameness regardless of incidence. The financial losses associated with lameness have been estimated for current economic circumstances
in the US, and are about $378 per case. Clearly different diseases result in differing costs. Insufficient data has been collected and analyzed to be much more specific in assigning losses to each disease. Sole ulcer and footrot appear to be the most costly common problems, and digital dermatitis the least costly on a per case basis.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Cow Comfort

Nigel B. Cook, BVSc MRCVS
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Veterinary Medicine, Madison, WI

This article describes the dual roles of cow comfort in herd lameness dynamics  interacting with trigger factors to ensure that cows get lame¹ and interacting with the cow once she is lame to ensure that she stays lame¹. Duration of daily standing activity, the surface
that the cow is standing on, and hygiene of that surface are principal components of cow comfort that need to be addressed if we are to break the cycle of get lame stay lame¹.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Use of Pain Relief in Food Animals

Relief of both acute and chronic pain in animals is an important part of the practice of veterinary medicine.  Human pain medications are frequently used in small animal and equine practice. However, food animal practitioners must follow the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act (AMDUCA), which puts restraints on the use of analgesics for pain management in food animals. This paper discusses the use of systemic pharmacologic agents for pain management in cattle, with an emphasis on nonsteroidal  anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Link to pain relief.pdf on next email

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

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