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Hohe tägliche Zunahmen der Kälber zum Absetzen sind von entscheidender Bedeutung für die ökonomische Rentabilität in der Mutterkuhhaltung. Außerdem könnten diese einen Hinweis auf die Fitness der Tiere liefern. Das Ziel dieser Studie bestand in der Identifikation möglicher Einflussfaktoren auf das Kälberwachstum sowie in der Analyse der Beziehungen zwischen Eutermerkmalen bei Angus-Mutterkühen und den täglichen Zunahmen ihrer Kälber in extensiver Grünlandhaltung. Von April 2016 bis März 2017 wurden die täglichen Zunahmen von der Geburt bis zum Absetzen von 330 Angus Kälbern auf fünf Betrieben in verschiedenen Regionen Deutschlands erfasst. Die durchschnittlichen täglichen Zunahmen bis zum Absetzen betrugen 1.098 g. Für die statistische Analyse wurde ein gemischtes lineares Modell verwendet. Kälber mit höheren Geburtsgewichten wiesen höhere tägliche Zunahmen auf (p < 0,0001). Kälber von primiparen Kühen zeigten geringere tägliche Zunahmen als Kälber von multiparen Kühen (p < 0,05). Die Kälber von Kühen mit mittelgroßen Eutern hatten höhere tägliche Zunahmen (p < 0,05). Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass Kälber von Mutterkühen mit mittelgroßen Eutern höhere tägliche Zunahmen erreichten, weshalb der Einsatz des Eutervolumens als funktionales Merkmal in der Zucht von extensiv gehaltenen Mutterkühen sinnvoll erscheint.
Risk Factors for Dystocia and Perinatal Mortality in Extensively Kept Angus Suckler Cows in Germany
(2019)
Dystocia and perinatal mortality are major animal health, welfare and economic issues in beef suckler cow production. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for dystocia and perinatal mortality and to analyze the relationships of both traits to external pelvic parameters in extensively kept beef suckler cows. Calving ease and calf survival were recorded for 785 births on five Angus cattle farms in Germany. The prevalence of dystocia and perinatal mortality was 3.4% and 4.3%, respectively. A hierarchical model was used to predict dystocia and perinatal mortality. First-parity dams had a higher probability of dystocia (p < 0.0001) than later-parity ones. Increasing birth weight was associated with an increasing risk for dystocia (p < 0.05). The probability of perinatal mortality (p < 0.0001) was higher in assisted births than in unassisted births. Calves from first-parity dams had a higher risk (p < 0.01) of being stillborn than calves from dams in later parities. An increase in the length of the pelvis was associated with an increase in odds for perinatal mortality (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the study indicates that dystocia and perinatal mortality are mainly problems in first-parity suckler cows. Concerning the predictive value of external pelvic parameters, further research is necessary.
Footpad dermatitis (FPD) is an indicator of animal welfare in turkeys, giving evidence of the animals' physical integrity and providing information on husbandry management. Automated systems for assessing FPD at slaughter can present a useful tool for objective data collection. However, using automated systems requires that they reliably assess the incidence. In this study, the feet of turkeys were scored for FPD by both an automated camera system and a human observer, using a five-scale score. The observer reliability between both was calculated (Krippendorff's alpha). The results were not acceptable, with an agreement coefficient of 0.44 in the initial situation. Therefore, pictures of 3,000 feet scored by the automated system were evaluated systematically to detect deficiencies. The reference area (metatarsal footpad) was not detected correctly in 55.0% of the feet, and false detections of the alteration on the footpad (FPD) were found in 32.9% of the feet. In 41.3% of the feet, the foot was not presented straight to the camera. According to these results, the algorithm of the automated system was modified, aiming to improve color detection and the distinction of the metatarsal footpad from the background. Pictures of the feet, now scored by the modified algorithm, were evaluated again. Observer reliability could be improved (Krippendorff's alpha = 0.61). However, detection of the metatarsal footpad (50.9% incorrect detections) and alterations (27.0% incorrect detections) remained a problem. We found that the performance of the camera system was affected by the angle at which the foot was presented to the camera (skew/straight; p &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, the laterality of the foot (left/right) was found to have a significant effect (p &lt; 0.001). We propose that the latter depends on the slaughter process. This study also highlights a high variability in observer reliability of human observers. Depending on the respective target parameter, the reliability coefficient (Krippendorff's alpha) ranged from 0.21 to 0.82. This stresses the importance of finding an objective alternative. Therefore, it was concluded that the automated detection system could be appropriate to reliably assess FPD at the slaughterhouse. However, there is still room to improve the existing method, especially when using FPD as a welfare indicator.