Herd-level risk factors for cow and calf on-farm mortality in Estonian dairy herds.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:On-farm mortality (unassisted death and euthanasia) is the unwanted loss of animals, and it comes with negative economic consequences. On-farm mortality rates reflect a herd's animal welfare status. The objective of this historical longitudinal single cohort study was to identify the associations between herd characteristics, animal housing conditions and management routines and within-herd calf and cow mortality rates in participating Estonian dairy herds. All farmers enrolled in the voluntary production recording system with a herd size of 20 or greater cow-years in 2015-2017 were contacted by mail or telephone between October 2017 and March 2018. The survey included questions about management routines and housing conditions of calves up to 3 months of age and of cows. In tota

SUBMITTER: Reimus K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7068997 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature