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Clinical Mastitis Incidence in Dairy Cows Housed on Recycled Manure Solids Bedding: A Canadian Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT: Bedding can affect mammary health of dairy cows. The objectives of this study were to evaluate clinical mastitis incidence in cows housed on recycled manure solids bedding and, more specifically, to determine which pathogens were involved. We followed 26 recycled manure solids farms and 60 straw-bedded farms as a comparative group during 1 year (2018-2019). For each episode of clinical mastitis, defined as a visual alteration of the milk, with or without local or systemic signs of infection, producers sampled aseptically the affected quarter, provided some details about the animal, and sent the sample to the research team at the Université de Montréal. We received and analyzed 1,144 milk samples. The samples were cultured according to the National Mastitis Council guidelines and the different colony phenotypes were subsequently identified with mass spectrometry. In 54.6% of CM cases, a single phenotype of bacteria was cultured (pure culture), while two different phenotypes were found in 16.8% of the samples (mixed culture), and no growth was observed in 14.4% of the samples. Samples with three or more phenotypes were considered contaminated and were not included in the pathogen-specific analyses (14.3% of the submitted samples). The most frequently identified bacterial species in pure and mixed culture in farms using recycled manure solids were Streptococcus uberis (16.0%), Escherichia coli (13.8%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (13.2%), Streptococcus dysgalactiae (6.2%), and Staphylococcus aureus (3.4%). In straw farms, the most frequent species were S. aureus (16.6%), S. uberis (11.0%), E. coli (9.1%), S. dysgalactiae (8.0%), and K. pneumoniae (1.1%). The incidence of clinical mastitis (all cases together) was not higher in recycled manure solids farms (14.0 cases/100 cow-year; 95% CI: 8.3-23.7) compared with straw-bedded farms (16.3 cases/100 cow-year; 95% CI: 9.0-29.6). However, K. pneumoniae clinical mastitis episodes were 7.0 (95% CI: 2.0-24.6) times more frequent in recycled manure solids farms than in straw farms. Adjusted least square means estimates were 1.6 K. pneumoniae clinical mastitis cases/100 cow-year (95% CI: 0.8-3.4) in recycled manure solids farms vs. 0.2 cases/100 cow-year (95% CI: 0.1-0.6) in straw-bedded farms. Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical mastitis is in general severe. Producers interested in this bedding alternative need to be aware of this risk.

SUBMITTER: Frechette A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8495071 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Mud increases net energy requirements for cattle because mud and precipitation compromise the ability of the hair coat to insulate and maintain core body temperature of the cow. The increase in energy required for a gestating cow to compensate for a muddy environment is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of muddy conditions on cow body weight (BW) and fetal growth during late gestation. Sixteen multiparous Angus cows (n = 8/treatment) were paired based on initial BW and one cow from each pair was randomly allocated to either the mud (MUD) or control (CON) treatment on day 213 of gestation. Pens in the CON group were bedded with wood chips, while pens in the MUD group were designed to create a muddy lot (average depth of 23.6 ± 5.8 cm). Cows were housed outdoors individually and fed the same diet that consisted of a limit-fed total mixed ration. Each pair was fed to meet energy and protein requirements for maintenance and gestation. From day 213 to 269 of gestation, cows were weighed and sampled for blood metabolites weekly. Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design with repeated measurements (SAS 9.4). Though cows consumed the same amount of dry matter, cows in the MUD treatment weighed 37.4 kg less than cows in the CON treatment (P < 0.01) by day 269 of gestation. Cows in the MUD treatment decreased approximately half a body condition score (BCS), while cows in the CON treatment gained approximately 1 BCS during the treatment period (P < 0.01). There was no evidence of a treatment × day of gestation effect for 12th rib back fat (P = 0.85), rump fat (P = 0.48), total plasma protein concentrations (P = 0.85), or plasma 3-methylhistidine (P = 0.84); however, there was a marginally significant treatment × day of gestation effect for plasma non-esterified fatty acid concentration (P = 0.09). Despite differences in cow BW at the end of the treatment period, calf birth weight (P = 0.66) and calf total plasma protein (P = 0.27) were not different; however, the divergence in cow BW remained marginally significant at parturition (P = 0.06). These results indicate that mud increased net energy requirements for cows in the MUD treatment, as calf birth weight was not different but maternal BW was decreased compared with cows in the CON treatment.

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Project description:Mastitis imposes considerable and recurring economic losses on the dairy industry worldwide. The main objective of this study was to estimate herd-level costs incurred by expenditures and production losses associated with mastitis on Canadian dairy farms in 2015, based on producer reports. Previously, published mastitis economic frameworks were used to develop an economic model with the most important cost components. Components investigated were divided between clinical mastitis (CM), subclinical mastitis (SCM), and other costs components (i.e., preventive measures and product quality). A questionnaire was mailed to 374 dairy producers randomly selected from the (Canadian National Dairy Study 2015) to collect data on these costs components, and 145 dairy producers returned a completed questionnaire. For each herd, costs due to the different mastitis-related components were computed by applying the values reported by the dairy producer to the developed economic model. Then, for each herd, a proportion of the costs attributable to a specific component was computed by dividing absolute costs for this component by total herd mastitis-related costs. Median self-reported CM incidence was 19 cases/100 cow-year and mean self-reported bulk milk somatic cell count was 184,000 cells/mL. Most producers reported using post-milking teat disinfection (97%) and dry cow therapy (93%), and a substantial proportion of producers reported using pre-milking teat disinfection (79%) and wearing gloves during milking (77%). Mastitis costs were substantial (662 CAD per milking cow per year for a typical Canadian dairy farm), with a large portion of the costs (48%) being attributed to SCM, and 34 and 15% due to CM and implementation of preventive measures, respectively. For SCM, the two most important cost components were the subsequent milk yield reduction and culling (72 and 25% of SCM costs, respectively). For CM, first, second, and third most important cost components were culling (48% of CM costs), milk yield reduction following the CM events (34%), and discarded milk (11%), respectively. This study is the first since 1990 to investigate costs of mastitis in Canada. The model developed in the current study can be used to compute mastitis costs at the herd and national level in Canada.

Project description:Overproduction of livestock manure can cause significant environmental challenges. Compost bedding (CB) is considered an effective approach for recycling the agricultural byproducts and improving the welfare of dairy cattle. During the CB preparing, the composition of microbial communities is usually altered; however, the patterns and drivers of CB microbial communities remains to be investigated. The current study aimed to explore the dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities during the various padded stages, using high throughput sequencing technology and qPCR. The relationships across physicochemical parameters, microbial community composition, and abundance were also evaluated. Sequencing results revealed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes of bacteria, and Ascomycota of fungi as the major phyla found in CB. qPCR results showed a significant increase in the number of bacterial genome copies from 1.20 × 107 to 3.35 × 107 copies/gram of dry soil, while the number of fungal genome copies significantly increased from 8.43 × 104 to 7.02 × 106 copies/gram of dry soil. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) showed that Actinobacteria was the primary indicator in raw materials while the phylum Bacteroidetes was in the other padded stages. Dothideomycetes was significantly enriched in the initial stage of fungi, whereas Sordariomycetes, including a pathogen Scedosporium prolificans, was the major indicator in CB after 9 days of padding. Mantel test showed that pH significantly influenced bacterial community composition while temperature and total organic carbon (TOC) had a significant effect on fungal community structure. Redundancy analysis indicated that TOC, temperature, and water content had a significant effect on bacterial abundance while total nitrogen, water content, and pH significantly affected fungal abundance. Our finding contributed to the understanding of microbial community succession in CB across different padded stages, and suggests CB management by changing the bedding material every 7 days.

Dataset Information

Clinical Mastitis Incidence in Dairy Cows Housed on Recycled Manure Solids Bedding: A Canadian Cohort Study.

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