A longitudinal study of factors associated with acute and chronic mastitis and their impact on lamb growth rate in 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain.
A 2-year prospective, longitudinal study of 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain was run to identify factors associated with acute mastitis (AM) and chronic mastitis, and their impact on lamb growth rate. Data were collected on AM, intramammary masses (IMM; a marker for chronic mastitis), udder and teat conformation, teat lesions, body condition, ewe nutrition, litter size, lamb weight and general flock management. Each flock was visited twice each year, approximately 4 weeks before lambing and 9 weeks into lactation, for two years and all ewes present at a visit were examined. There were 7021 examinations in total. AM was reported in 2.1-3.0% of ewes/year; this ranged from 0.0% to 37.1% by flock. IMM were detected in 4.7% of ewes in pregnancy and 10.9% of ewes in lactation. Once an IMM had been detected there was an increased risk of future IMM although IMM were not consistently present. The majority of ewes had good udder conformation to suckle lambs. Factors associated with AM, IMM in pregnant and lactating ewes, udder conformation and lamb daily live weight gain were explored using mixed effect multivariable models. An increased risk of AM was associated with underfeeding protein in pregnancy (OR 4.05), forward pointing teats (OR 2.54), downward pointing teats (OR 4.68), rearing≥2 lambs (OR 2.65), non-traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.09); and marginally associated with the presence of IMM. An increased risk of IMM in lactation was associated with AM during lactation (OR 12.39), IMM in pregnancy (OR 4.79), IMM in the previous lactation (OR 4.77), underfeeding energy in pregnancy (OR 6.66) and traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.48). An increased risk of IMM in pregnancy was associated with IMM in the previous pregnancy, IMM in the previous lactation and underfeeding energy in the previous lactation (OR 2.95). Lower lamb daily live weight gain was associated with traumatic teat lesions, IMM in lactation (-0.01kg/day) and AM (-0.04kg/day). We conclude that inadequate nutrition is an important cause of mastitis in suckler ewes which farmers could address in part using current nutritional guidelines but further work is needed. The relationship between AM and IMM indicates that separating or culling ewes with IMM would help reduce AM.
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Claire
C
Grant
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Edward Mark
EM
Smith
School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. Electronic address: Laura.Green@warwick.ac.uk.
Laura Elizabeth
LE
Green
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008321:Mammary Glands, Animal / Q000473:pathology; D008413:Mastitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012756:Sheep / Q000254:growth & development; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain
Lamb daily live weight gain; Longitudinal study; Mastitis; Mixed effect models; Suckler ewe