The prevalence of damaged tails in New Zealand dairy cattle.

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dc.citation.issue3
dc.citation.volume72
dc.contributor.authorCuttance EL
dc.contributor.authorMason WA
dc.contributor.authorHea SY
dc.contributor.authorBryan MA
dc.contributor.authorLaven RA
dc.coverage.spatialEngland
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T22:57:19Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T22:57:19Z
dc.date.issued2024-03-11
dc.description.abstractAIMS: To undertake a survey of the prevalence of tail deviations, trauma and shortening on a representative selection of New Zealand dairy farms, and to assess whether sampling based on milking order could be used instead of random sampling across the herd to estimate prevalence. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional observational study, with 200 randomly selected farms enrolled across nine regions of New Zealand via selected veterinary practices (one/region). Veterinary clinics enrolled 20-25 farms each depending on region, with 1-2 trained technicians scoring per region. All cows (n = 92,348) present at a milking or pregnancy testing event were tail scored using a modified version of the New Zealand Veterinary Association Industry Scoring System. Palpated lesions were recorded as deviated (i.e. non-linear deformity), shortened (tail shorter than normal) or traumatic (all other lesions). The location of lesions was defined by dividing the tail into three equal zones: upper, middle and lower. A cow could have more than one lesion type and location, and/or multiple lesions of the same type, but for the prevalence calculation, only the presence or absence of a particular lesion was assessed. Prevalence of tail damage calculated using whole herd scoring was compared to random sampling across the herd and sampling from the front and back of the milking order. Bootstrap sampling with replacement was used to generate the sampling distributions across seven sample sizes ranging from 40-435 cows. RESULTS: When scoring all cows, the median prevalence for deviation was 9.5 (min 0.9, max 40.3)%; trauma 0.9 (min 0, max 10.7)%, and shortening was 4.5 (min 1.3, max 10.8)%. Deviation and trauma prevalence varied between regions; the median prevalence of deviations ranged from 6% in the West Coast to 13% in Waikato, and the median prevalence of all tail damage from 7% in the West Coast to 29% in Southland. Sampling based on milking order was less precise than random sampling across the herd. With the latter and using 157 cows, 95% of prevalence estimates were within 5% of the whole herd estimate, but sampling based on milking order needed > 300 cows to achieve the same precision. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The proportion of cows identified as having damaged tails was consistent with recent reports from New Zealand and Ireland, but at 11.5%, the proportion of cows with trauma or deviation is below acceptable standards. An industry-wide programme is needed to reduce the proportion of affected cows.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.edition2024
dc.format.pagination123-132
dc.identifier.author-urlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38467464
dc.identifier.citationCuttance EL, Mason WA, Hea SY, Bryan MA, Laven RA. (2024). The prevalence of damaged tails in New Zealand dairy cattle.. N Z Vet J. 72. 3. (pp. 123-132).
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/00480169.2024.2321180
dc.identifier.eissn1176-0710
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn0048-0169
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/71324
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis Group
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00480169.2024.2321180
dc.relation.isPartOfN Z Vet J
dc.rights(c) 2024 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectNew Zealand
dc.subjectTail damage
dc.subjectdairy cattle
dc.subjectprevalence
dc.subjectAnimals
dc.subjectCattle
dc.subjectFemale
dc.subjectPregnancy
dc.subjectCattle Diseases
dc.subjectCross-Sectional Studies
dc.subjectDairying
dc.subjectLactation
dc.subjectNew Zealand
dc.subjectPrevalence
dc.subjectTail
dc.titleThe prevalence of damaged tails in New Zealand dairy cattle.
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id487681
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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