Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108, MN, USA.
J Dairy Sci. 2012 Oct;95(10):5626-34. doi: 10.3168/jds.2011-5075. Epub 2012 Aug 3.
The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between stall surface and some animal welfare measurements in upper Midwest US dairy operations using recycled manure solids as bedding material. The study included 34 dairy operations with herd sizes ranging from 130 to 3,700 lactating cows. Forty-five percent of the herds had mattresses and 55% had deep-bedded stalls. Farms were visited once between July and October 2009. At the time of visit, at least 50% of the cows in each lactating pen were scored for locomotion, hygiene, and hock lesions. On-farm herd records were collected for the entire year and used to investigate mortality, culling, milk production, and mastitis incidence. Stall surface was associated with lameness and hock lesion prevalence. Lameness prevalence (locomotion score ≥ 3 on a 1 to 5 scale) was lower in deep-bedded freestalls (14.4%) than freestalls with mattresses (19.8%). Severe lameness prevalence (locomotion score ≥ 4) was also lower for cows housed in deep-bedded freestalls (3.6%) than for cows housed in freestalls with mattresses (5.9%). In addition, the prevalence of hock lesions (hock lesion scores ≥ 2 on a 1 to 3 scale, with 1=no lesion, 2=hair loss or mild lesion, and 3=swelling or severe lesion) and severe hock lesions (hock lesion score=3) was lower in herds with deep-bedded freestalls (49.4%; 6.4%) than in herds with mattresses (67.3%; 13.2%). Herd turnover rates were not associated with stall surface; however, the percentage of removals due to voluntary (low milk production, disposition, and dairy) and involuntary (death, illness, injury, and reproductive) reasons was different between deep-bedded and mattress-based freestalls. Voluntary removals averaged 16% of all herd removals in deep-bedded herds, whereas in mattress herds, these removals were 8%. Other welfare measurements such as cow hygiene, mortality rate, mastitis incidence, and milk production were not associated with stall surface.
本横断面研究旨在探究美国中西部地区使用再生粪肥固体作为垫料的奶牛场中，卧床表面与一些动物福利测量指标之间的关联。该研究共纳入了 34 个奶牛场，其奶牛存栏量从 130 头至 3700 头不等。45%的牛群使用了床垫，55%的牛群使用了深垫卧床。这些农场在 2009 年 7 月至 10 月期间接受了一次访问。在访问期间，每个泌乳牛舍中至少有 50%的奶牛接受了运动、卫生和跗关节损伤评分。农场还收集了全年的牛群记录，用于调查死亡率、淘汰率、产奶量和乳腺炎发病率。卧床表面与跛行和跗关节损伤的流行情况有关。深垫卧床（14.4%）的跛行流行率（1 到 5 分制的运动评分≥3）低于使用床垫的卧床（19.8%）。严重跛行流行率（运动评分≥4）也较低，深垫卧床的奶牛（3.6%）低于使用床垫的卧床（5.9%）。此外，跗关节损伤（1 到 3 分制的跗关节损伤评分≥2，其中 1=无损伤，2=毛发损失或轻度损伤，3=肿胀或严重损伤）和严重跗关节损伤（跗关节损伤评分=3）的流行率也较低，深垫卧床的牛群（49.4%；6.4%）低于使用床垫的牛群（67.3%；13.2%）。牛群周转率与卧床表面无关；然而，由于自愿（产奶量低、处置和奶牛）和非自愿（死亡、疾病、损伤和繁殖）原因而进行的淘汰率在深垫和床垫卧床之间存在差异。深垫牛群中自愿淘汰的平均占所有牛群淘汰的 16%，而在床垫牛群中，这些淘汰占 8%。其他福利测量指标，如奶牛卫生、死亡率、乳腺炎发病率和产奶量，与卧床表面无关。
