Fall, Nils
(2009).
Health and reproduction in organic and conventional swedish dairy cows.
Diss. (sammanfattning/summary)
Uppsala :
Sveriges lantbruksuniv.,
Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae, 1652-6880
; 2009:36
ISBN 978-91-86195-83-0
[Doctoral thesis]
![]() |
PDF
264kB |
Abstract
This thesis compares indicators of animal health and reproduction in organically and conventionally managed dairy cows in Sweden. The first part of the thesis is based on data from a twelve-year longitudinal study of a research farm with parallel but separate organic and conventional management. The second part of the thesis is based on data from a field investigation performed by the author. The field investigation included 20 organically and 20 conventionally managed dairy herds in south-east Sweden. Udder health and reproductive performance were studied in both the research farm and in the field study, general health and length of productive life in the research farm only and early-lactation metabolic profiles in the field study only. Udder health was assessed by comparing somatic cell counts during first 150 days in milk, number of test-milking occasions with >200,000 cells/ml during first 150 days in milk and number of veterinary treated cases of mastitis. Reproductive performance was assessed by comparing calving interval, calving-to-first insemination and pregnancy success at first insemination. Body condition score and blood metabolites indicating negative energy balance such as non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, glucose and insulin were measured. Multivariable, multilevel statistical models were consistently employed. Management type, breed, housing, parity, and milk yield were frequently used predictor variables in the different statistical models. The predictor variable of main interest, organic or conventional management, was forced to stay in all models. The conclusion is that under Swedish conditions, cows in organic and conventional dairy management differ only marginally considering mastitis, reproductive performance and metabolic profiles, implying that animal health in organic management is equally good as in conventional management in these specific fields.
Authors/Creators: | Fall, Nils | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title: | Health and reproduction in organic and conventional swedish dairy cows | ||||
Year of publishing : | 2009 | ||||
Number: | 2009:36 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 57 | ||||
Papers/manuscripts: |
| ||||
Place of Publication: | Uppsala | ||||
Publisher: | Dept of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | ||||
Associated Programs and Other Stakeholders: | SLU - Research Areas for the Future > Future Animal Health and Welfare (until Jan 2017) | ||||
ISBN for printed version: | 978-91-86195-83-0 | ||||
ISSN: | 1652-6880 | ||||
Language: | English | ||||
Publication Type: | Doctoral thesis | ||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||
Agrovoc terms: | dairy cows, animal health, mammary glands, milk yield, animal performance, reproduction performance, metabolism, alternative agriculture, sweden | ||||
Keywords: | organic, dairy cow, udder health, milk yield, length of productive life, reproductive performance, metabolic profile | ||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-2943 | ||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-2943 | ||||
ID Code: | 2069 | ||||
Faculty: | VH - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science | ||||
Department: | (VH) > Dept. of Clinical Sciences | ||||
Deposited By: | Nils Fall | ||||
Deposited On: | 21 Aug 2009 00:00 | ||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2014 10:16 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page