Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Author: search.filters.author.Sapkota SSubject: search.filters.subject.welfare assessment

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    Can we estimate herd-level prevalence of lameness in dairy cow herds kept at pasture by sampling part of the herd?
    (Taylor and Francis Group on behalf of the New Zealand Veterinary Association, 2025-03-26) Sapkota S; Laven RA; Müller KR; Yang DA
    Aims: To assess whether herd-level lameness prevalence can be estimated on New Zealand dairy farms, by scoring the first, middle, or last 100 cows in the milking order. In pasture-based herds, whole herd locomotion scoring requires an assessor outside the milking parlour throughout milking. If sufficiently predictive, sampling a proportion of the herd based on milking order, could reduce the costs and time of welfare assessments. Methods: Six pasture-based, spring-calving, dairy farms in the Manawatū region of New Zealand were conveniently selected. Visits occurred at approximately 6-week intervals between October 2021 and May 2022. Cows were scored using the DairyNZ lameness score (0–3). The assessor tallied cows as they left the parlour and recorded the milking order of those with a lameness score ≥ 2. Data were analysed to determine the association between farm, visit and the proportion of lame cows in the first, middle, and last 100 cows, and the agreement between the prevalence of lame cows in those groups and from whole herd scoring. Results: Across all visits, 263 lame cows were recorded. Of these, 40.7% were in the last 100, 25.9% in the middle 100, and 14.4% in the first 100. Farm, visit and their interactions with group were all statistically significant (p < 0.001). While, overall, the last 100 cows had the highest proportion of lame cows, this pattern varied across farms and visits, Limits-of-agreement plots showed that as herd prevalence increased, agreement between the prevalence in each sample group and herd prevalence worsened. When herd prevalence exceeded 5%, only the middle 100 sampling group had a limits-of-agreement < 5%. Conclusions: Variations across farms and seasons in the proportion of lame cows in each part of the milking order lead to variations in the accuracy of predicting overall lameness from such samples. Based on limits-of-agreement, observing the middle 100 cows is likely to be the most accurate sample, but is still likely to be of limited value on New Zealand dairy farms, especially as a single, one-off measurement. Clinical relevance: On New Zealand dairy farms, locomotion scoring the middle 100 cows in the milking order as part of a welfare assessment would reduce costs and time but would not produce an accurate estimate of whole-herd lameness prevalence. However, it may be useful as a screening tool in herds routinely locomotion scoring throughout the year.
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    Animal Welfare Assessment: Can We Develop a Practical, Time-Limited Assessment Protocol for Pasture-Based Dairy Cows in New Zealand?
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 19/10/2020) Sapkota S; Laven R; Müller K; Kells N
    Despite being a leading producer and exporter of dairy products, New Zealand has no industry-recognised welfare assessment protocol. A New Zealand-specific protocol is essential, as almost all dairy farms in New Zealand are pasture-based and housing is rarely used. Therefore, protocols developed for intensive cows are not suitable. The aim of this study was to develop a simple yet practical welfare assessment protocol that could be used to assess the welfare of a dairy herd during one visit timed to occur around milking. Six welfare assessment protocols and four studies of dairy cattle welfare assessments that had some focus on dairy cattle welfare at pasture were used, along with the New Zealand Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare, to identify potential assessments for inclusion in the protocol. Eighty-four potential assessments (20 record-based and 64 that needed assessing on-farm) were identified by this process of welfare assessments. After screening to exclude on-farm assessments that were not relevant, that had only limited practical application in pasture-based dairy cows or that required more time than available, 28 on-farm assessments remained, which were put together with the 20 record-based assessments and were tested for feasibility, practicality and time on two pasture-based dairy farms. Assessments were then identified as suitable, suitable after modification or not feasible. Suitable and modified assessments were then included in the final protocol alongside additional measures specific to New Zealand dairy farms. The final protocol included 24 on-farm assessments and eight record-based assessments. Further testing of these 32 assessments is needed on more dairy farms across New Zealand before the protocol can be used to routinely assess the welfare of dairy cows in New Zealand.