[Comparison of productivity and veterinary expenses in Swiss dairy farms with and without integrated veterinary herd health service].

The goal of this study was to compare production variables and veterinary costs between dairy herds enrolled in an integrated herd health program and herds with a conventional, non-computerized herd management. Four variables were used to assess the performance of the herds, including calving interval, milk production per lactation, as well as the product of calving interval x veterinary costs per year and the ratio of production to veterinary costs per year. A total of 22 dairy herds, serviced by the ambulatory clinic, University of Zurich, were investigated. There were 11 experimental herds that had been enrolled in an integrated herd health program, INTERHERD©, and 11 control herds. Data of the latter were derived from a computerized accounting system, OBLON DATA©. A total of 92'350 records from the years 1999 - 2005 were analyzed retrospectively. During the investigation period the calving interval did not significantly increase in experimental herds, whereas milk production steadily increased in both groups. The integrated herd health program did not result in additional costs when the dairy farms have no problems on a herd basis. From our study, differences in farms with and without herd health program are only marginal.