Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival
The most common floor type in dairy barns is concrete. Concrete does unfortunately get slippery over time due to mechanical and chemical degradation. Slippery floors increase the risk of slipping and falling and influence cows’ behavior, which can affect claw health, fertility and survival. One comm...
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| Format: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Language: | Inglés Inglés |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13204/ |
| _version_ | 1855572204848152576 |
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| author | Macklin, Stefanie |
| author_browse | Macklin, Stefanie |
| author_facet | Macklin, Stefanie |
| author_sort | Macklin, Stefanie |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The most common floor type in dairy barns is concrete. Concrete does unfortunately get slippery over time due to mechanical and chemical degradation. Slippery floors increase the risk of slipping and falling and influence cows’ behavior, which can affect claw health, fertility and survival. One common solution to provide more friction and reduce slipperiness is to groove the floor. In this thesis, the effect of grooving on claw health, fertility, and survival are examined by a questionnaire and an epidemiological study. The questionnaire included 53 of about 300 farmers who contracted Växa Sverige to groove their floors, during recent years. The 34 questions included specific information about the grooving, animal health, behavior, and housing. Farmers replied that grooving improved oestrus expression (31 %), increased activity (22 %), gave higher claw wear (10 %) and decreased muscle strain injuries (81 %). Other farmers did not see any differences in these traits before and after grooving. The epidemiological study included 118 herds who grooved their concrete floors (HGrooved) and 236 matched control herds (HControl) who had not grooved their floors. Data were obtained for the 6-months period prior grooving (period1) and the 6-month period after grooving was finished (period2). The results did not reveal any evidential proof regarding grooves effect on claw health, fertility, culling and veterinary treated disorders. Further studies need more participating farmers and a longer follow up period in order to determine how claw health, fertility and survival are affected by grooving. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU13204 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU132042019-02-25T13:14:50Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13204/ Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival Macklin, Stefanie Animal husbandry Miscellaneous animal disorders The most common floor type in dairy barns is concrete. Concrete does unfortunately get slippery over time due to mechanical and chemical degradation. Slippery floors increase the risk of slipping and falling and influence cows’ behavior, which can affect claw health, fertility and survival. One common solution to provide more friction and reduce slipperiness is to groove the floor. In this thesis, the effect of grooving on claw health, fertility, and survival are examined by a questionnaire and an epidemiological study. The questionnaire included 53 of about 300 farmers who contracted Växa Sverige to groove their floors, during recent years. The 34 questions included specific information about the grooving, animal health, behavior, and housing. Farmers replied that grooving improved oestrus expression (31 %), increased activity (22 %), gave higher claw wear (10 %) and decreased muscle strain injuries (81 %). Other farmers did not see any differences in these traits before and after grooving. The epidemiological study included 118 herds who grooved their concrete floors (HGrooved) and 236 matched control herds (HControl) who had not grooved their floors. Data were obtained for the 6-months period prior grooving (period1) and the 6-month period after grooving was finished (period2). The results did not reveal any evidential proof regarding grooves effect on claw health, fertility, culling and veterinary treated disorders. Further studies need more participating farmers and a longer follow up period in order to determine how claw health, fertility and survival are affected by grooving. Det vanligaste golvet för mjölkkor är betong. Betongen slits med tiden på grund av mekanisk och kemisk inverkan, vilket kan göra golvet väldigt halt för korna. Halt golv ökar risken för att korna förlorar fästet och ramlar, vilket påverkar deras beteende. Detta kan i sin tur påverka klövhälsa, fertilitet och utslagning. En vanlig lösning för att minska risken för halka är att öka golvytans friktion, genom att rilla golvet. I denna studie undersöktes rillningens effekt på klövhälsa, fertilitet och överlevnad med hjälp av en enkät och en epidemiologisk studie. I enkäten deltog 53 av ungefär 300 mjölkföretagare som anlitat Växa Sverige under de senaste åren. De 34 frågorna berörde särskild information om rillningen, djurhälsa, beteende, och gårdsspecifik information. Lantbrukarna svarade att rillningen förstärkte brunstbeteendet (31 %), ökade aktiviteten (22 %), gav högre slitage av klövarna (10 %) och minskade frekvensen fläkskador (81 %). Övriga lantbrukare kunde inte observera några skillnader före och efter rillningen, med avseende på ovanstående. Den epidemiologiska studien omfattade 118 besättningar som hade rillat sina betonggolv (HGrooved) och 236 matchade kontrollbesättningar (HControl), som inte hade rillat sina golv. Data erhölls för 6-månadersperioden innan rillningens start (period1) och 6-månadersperioden efter rillningen var avslutad (period2) för; klövhälsa, fertilitet, utslagning och veterinärbehandlade sjukdomsfall. Rillningens inverkan på dessa parametrar kunde inte fastställas från resultaten. För fortsatta studier bör fler gårdar inkluderas och uppföljningstiden efter rillning behöver vara längre för att kunna dra några slutsatser kring golvrillningens effekt på klövhälsa, fertilitet och överlevnad. 2018-03-16 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13204/1/__ad.slu.se_common_bibul_slub_AVD_Vet_Kom_Publicering_epsilon_examensarbeten_examensarbeten18_macklin_s_180315.pdf Macklin, Stefanie, 2018. Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival : farmers experience and herd data. Second cycle, A2E. Alnarp: (LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Biosystems and Technology (from 130101) <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-643.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-9301 eng |
| spellingShingle | Animal husbandry Miscellaneous animal disorders Macklin, Stefanie Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title | Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title_full | Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title_fullStr | Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title_short | Effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| title_sort | effects of grooving slippery concrete floors on dairy cows´ claw health, behavior, fertility and survival |
| topic | Animal husbandry Miscellaneous animal disorders |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13204/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/13204/ |