title: Foot/leg and udder health in relation to housing changes in Swedish dairy herds.
abstract: Monthly herd disease incidence rate or prevalence estimates in 196 Swedish commercial dairy herds from 1988 to 1995 were collected retrospectively from the official milk-recording scheme and merged with county administrative and farmers' data on housing and management. To study the effects of changes in housing system on the occurrence of veterinary-treated foot/leg disorders, clinical mastitis, teat injuries and high milk somatic cell counts (MSCCs), four marginal Poisson or negative-binomial regression models were applied to the data (6011-7063 herd-month records), using the generalized estimating-equations method. Monthly observations were treated as repeated measures within herds. There were significant transitory increases in the incidence of clinical foot/leg disorders when changing from tie-stalls to cubicles and decreases in the incidences of clinical mastitis and teat injuries when changing from tie-stalls to cubicle or straw-yard systems. Effects on foot/leg health generally lasted for <18 months after building finish, while udder-health improvements persisted >18 months. Reductions in the incidence of clinical mastitis were not accompanied by any clear changes in the prevalence of high MSCCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Environment and Health, Section of Production Diseases, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, SE-532 23, Skara, Sweden. jan.hultgren@hmh.slu.se
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hultgren
mesh_terms: D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003612:Dairying; D005260:Female; D005534:Foot Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D006304:Health Status; D006799:Housing, Animal; D015994:Incidence; D007866:Leg / Q000473:pathology; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D008413:Mastitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008892:Milk / Q000166:cytology; D012189:Retrospective Studies