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Historic, Archive Document Do not assume content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. Reserve Grneaicie: . nited States aSF201 \s Department of 1.9M9338 47 RAgrRic ulture Maternity Hygiene for Plant Health Dairy Cows Inspection Service Veterinary National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project Services The dairy producer’s management of Figure 1. Locations Dairy Calves Are Born on the Farm the maternity pen is an important aspect % Producerse ME % Producers with Calving of the operation’s overall well-being. The BUILDING Area Separate from Dry Cows maternity pen is where most calves begin 7D a8 Freestall their lives on the farm and is often where the dairy cow is located during the onset ee ree ae 44. Indiv. Animal Area of lactation. LLL LLL Multi. Animal Area Several topics covered during a Tiestall/Stanchion 1991-92 study by the National Animal Health Monitoring System NBOU ILDING (USDA:APHIS:VS) were devoted to Multi. Animal Drylot management of the maternity pen. The Multi. Anim. Pasture National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (NDHEP) included 1,811 operations in 0 10 20 30 40 50 28 states.! These operations were *Producers may have reported birthe at more than one location. randomly chosen so that the results would be representative of herds of 30 cows Or more in the 28 states. The herds represent A variety of calving areas are used on dairy farms as 78 percent of the National dairy cow population. Nearly shown in Figure 1. The percentages of operations with 1,200 producers contributed information on maternity the calving area separate from other dry cows are shown hygiene practices. in the dark bars. Note that producers may have designated more than one location for calf births. Figure 2. Number of Calvings In Individual Animal Individual animal areas within buildings and multiple Maternity Pens Between Cleanings animal areas in pastures are commonly used for maternity pens. Nearly one-third of the producers use »6 Calvings 14.6% tiestalls or stanchions. It is interesting to note that Not Cleaned _~55xxxkkm, 2.8% eeeses °K 6 Calvings several of these areas house multiple animals. g 15.1% The number of calvings that occur before a producer cleans the individual area maternity pen is shown in Figure 2. Nearly one-half of the producers clean the 2-3 Calvings pens after every calving; two-thirds clean them after one One Calving 21.5% to three births. Such data were collected on each calving 46% area shown in Figure 1 and are available with the detailed NDHEP results. Percent of Farms Istates participating in the National Dairy Heifer Evaluation Project (NDHEP): Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oregony Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. March 1993 1022440574. Figure 3 shows the average Figure 3. Length of Time Dairy Cows are in Calving Area Prior to Calving length of time dams are in the calving area prior to calving. The ‘3 Days (13-5 Days HHH 6-10 Days »10 Days graph shows only the top four types of maternity areas, excluding ; Percentage of Farms pasture. With the exception of the individual animal area, cows ona majority of farms are in the maternity pen for longer than 10 days. This length of time may affect the cleanliness and management of the calving environment. SSeeaue-8- Resees8 Seee88° Aeeeeses eeeee8.e87. veaeeens Seee*rie* iaeesees s The length of time the calf SEESESS ES remains in the maternity area after birth may affect its health and Individual Multiple Tiestall Multiple well-being. Figure 4 shows that in Animal Area Animal Area or Stanchion Animal Drylot most of the housing areas, calves remain less than a day on average. Notable exceptions are the Figure 4. Average Time In Days Calves Remain in Calving Area tiestall/stanchion areas and the individual BUILDING polirnds of Days animal areas. Freestall WLLL. Eighty-nine percent of the producers Indiv. Animal Area use some type of bedding in the maternity Multi. Animal Area pens (excluding pasture). Straw or hay SS SN H ; Tiestall/Stanchion and sawdust or shavings are the most common beddings used in each facility NBOU ILDING type. Indiv. Animal Drylot Multi. Animal Drylot Other details of farm management Indiv. Anim. Pasture from the standpoint of the newborn calf and maternity hygiene will be part of Multi. Anim. Pasture further analyses of NDHEP data. 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 NDHEP collaborators included the National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA:NASS), National Veterinary Services Laboratories (USDA:APHIS:VS), National Animal Health Monitoring System and State and Federal Veterinary Medical Officers. The USDA:APHIS:VS Cooperative Extension Service provided editorial 555 South Howes, Suite 200 assistance. For more information on the National Dairy Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 (303) 490-7800 Heifer Evaluation Project and other NAHMS programs, N120.0293 please contact: