Hechenberger Nicole, Lichtmannsperger Katharina, Klein-Jöbstl Daniela, Tichy Alexander, Wittek Thomas
Animal Health Service (Tiergesundheitsdienst) Salzburg, Bundesstraße 6, 5071 Wals-Siezenheim, Austria.
Clinical Unit of Ruminant Medicine, University Clinic for Ruminants, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Aug 30;13(17):2758. doi: 10.3390/ani13172758.
The objectives of the study were to describe colostrum management on Austrian dairy farms and to explore differences between regions (alpine/flatlands), organic and conventional producing farms, and full-time or part-time operated farms. An online survey (24 questions) on general farm characteristics and herd and calf management was sent to 16,246 farmers. In total, 2328 farmers (response rate 14.3%) answered the questionnaire. To allow an objective comparison, a scoring system was implemented. Farm size is, on average, smaller in the alpine regions than in the foothills/flatlands regions of Austria. Small farms were more often organic-producing farms (81.6%) and operated part-time (93.8%). In foothills/flatland regions, 70.0% of farms have a separate calving area, and in the alpine regions, it is solely 42.8%. Colostrum testing is still mostly done by visual appraisal (63.7%); only a few farmers use a colostrometer (8.8%), brix-refractometer (18.3%), or ColostroCheck (9.2%, a cone-shaped device to rate the flow velocity of colostrum). The results of the present study using the scoring system showed differences in herd and calf management practices in all sectors. In the future, the findings and especially the scoring system can support Austrian dairy farmers or veterinarians to better assess areas of improvement on farms in order to prevent calves from suffering from Failure of Transfer of Passive Immunity.
本研究的目的是描述奥地利奶牛场的初乳管理情况，并探讨不同地区（高山地区/平原地区）、有机和传统生产农场以及全职或兼职经营农场之间的差异。一项关于农场一般特征以及牛群和犊牛管理的在线调查（24个问题）被发送给了16246名农民。总共有2328名农民（回复率14.3%）回答了问卷。为了进行客观比较，实施了一个评分系统。奥地利高山地区的农场平均规模比山麓/平原地区的小。小型农场更常为有机生产农场（81.6%）且为兼职经营（93.8%）。在山麓/平原地区，70.0%的农场有单独的产犊区，而在高山地区，这一比例仅为42.8%。初乳检测大多仍通过视觉评估进行（63.7%）；只有少数农民使用初乳密度计（8.8%）、糖度折射仪（18.3%）或初乳检测仪（9.2%，一种用于评估初乳流速等级的锥形装置）。本研究使用评分系统得出的结果显示，所有部门在牛群和犊牛管理实践方面存在差异。未来，这些发现尤其是评分系统可以帮助奥地利奶农或兽医更好地评估农场需要改进的方面，以防止犊牛患被动免疫转移失败症。
