2024DASC3474-Module 11-Herd Health - Tagged

Module Overview: Herd Health

  • Focus on the importance and challenges of maintaining health records in dairy herds (Wenz, 2013).

Challenges in Health Records

  • User-defined Variability: Definitions of diseases differ between herds.

  • Data Utilization: Producers use individual animal data while practitioners often seek a summary of herd health.

  • Need for Change: Emphasis on shifting dairy health management practices.

Common Deficits in On-farm Health Records (Norlund and Cook, 2004)

  • Limited Information: Many systems primarily record reproductive details.

  • Focus on Treatment: Records often concentrate on treatments rather than diagnoses.

  • Terminology Variation: Differing terms used for clinical and nonclinical events.

  • Inconsistent Practices: Variability in case definitions, diagnostic abilities, and discipline in record-keeping.

  • Software Limitations: Most widely used health record software programs have specific constraints.

Decision Support Components of Health Records

  • Performance Types:

    • Descriptive

    • Diagnostic

    • Predictive

    • Prescriptive

Goals of Health Records (Wenz, 2013)

  • Support for individual cow management decisions.

  • Facilitate residue avoidance and ensure regulatory compliance.

  • Aid in outcome-based health management decisions.

Three Essential Rules for Herd Health Records (Wenz, 2013)

  1. Record ALL disease episodes.

  2. Document a single, specific event for each disease episode.

  3. Ensure consistency in recording event remarks.

Key Health Information Needs

  • Identification Info: Tracking animal identities.

  • Reproductive Data: Includes calving, heat, breeding dates, difficulties, retained placentas, reproductive infections, and vet diagnosis from palpation.

  • Vaccination Records:

    • Mastitis information, including somatic cell counts (SCCS) and treatment dates.

Disease Categories in Dairy Cattle

  • Metabolic Disorders: Include ketosis, milk fever, grass tetany.

  • Nutritional Issues: Such as bloat, fescue foot, anemia, rickets, goiter, and night blindness.

  • Reproductive Diseases: Examples include brucellosis, leptospirosis, trichomoniasis, vibriosis, metritis, and retained placenta.

  • Respiratory Problems: Include BRSV, IBR, BVD, PI-3, and shipping fever.

  • Internal Parasites: Grubs, tapeworms, roundworms, and lungworms.

  • External Parasites: Lice, mange, and ringworm.

  • Poisonings: From lead, prussic acid, nitrates/nitrites, moldy feeds, and chemical sprays.

  • Miscellaneous Conditions: Includes diseases such as anaplasmosis, blackleg, displaced abomasum, foot rot, hardware disease, Johne’s disease, lumpy jaw, pinkeye, warts, and winter dysentery.

Requirements for Complete Medical Treatment Records (Pasteurized Milk Ordinance)

  • Animal identification.

  • Dates of treatment and details of the drugs given, including dosage.

  • Route of administration used.

  • Documenting meat and milk withdrawal times, even when zero.

Incidence Goals for Dairy Cattle Diseases

  • Milk Fever: ≤ 5%

  • Dystocia: ≤ 5%

  • Retained Placenta: ≤ 8%

  • Metritis: ≤ 10%

  • Clinical Ketosis: ≤ 3%

  • Subclinical Ketosis: ≤ 15%

  • Left Displaced Abomasum: ≤ 2%

  • Mastitis: ≤ 3 clinical cases per 100 cows per month

  • Lameness: ≤ 10%