Pre-Weaned Calf Rearing on Northern Irish Dairy Farms-Part 2: The Impact of Hygiene Practice on Bacterial Levels in Dairy Calf Rearing Environments.

ABSTRACT: Pre-weaned dairy calves are very susceptible to disease in the first months of life due to having a naïve immune system and because of the numerous physiological stressors they face. Hygiene management is a key element in minimizing enteric disease risk in calves by reducing their exposure to pathogens. Samples of milk, concentrate feed and drinking water, boot swabs of bedding and swabs of feed equipment were collected from 66 dairy farms as part of a survey of calf rearing practice and housing design. All the samples were cultured to determine total viable counts (TVC), total coliforms (TCC) and Escherichia coli as indicators of hygiene. Target ranges for levels of TVC, TCC and E. coli were defined from the literature and the sample results compared against them. The TVC ta

SUBMITTER: Brown AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10044673 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature