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Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The welfare of animals kept in livestock production systems has raised concerns around the world. Adult dairy cattle require adequate rest and spend approximately 12 h/day lying down. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the stall factors and management practices affecti...

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Autores principales: Kathambi, E. K., VanLeeuwen, J. A., Gitau, G. K., Kamunde, C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Veterinary World 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6702546/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31528037
http://dx.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1085-1092
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author Kathambi, E. K.
VanLeeuwen, J. A.
Gitau, G. K.
Kamunde, C.
author_facet Kathambi, E. K.
VanLeeuwen, J. A.
Gitau, G. K.
Kamunde, C.
author_sort Kathambi, E. K.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND AND AIM: The welfare of animals kept in livestock production systems has raised concerns around the world. Adult dairy cattle require adequate rest and spend approximately 12 h/day lying down. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the stall factors and management practices affecting cows’ lying time, stall cleanliness, and cows’ cleanliness (udder and upper leg), in smallholder dairy cows in Meru County of Kenya. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 106 milking cows from 73 farms were assessed for daily lying time and cleanliness. Data loggers were used to record the lying time of cows for 3 days. Stall, udder, and upper leg cleanliness were assessed using a 5-score system: 1 (very clean) to 5 (very dirty). Management information was acquired using a questionnaire that was administered face-to-face to the farmers in their native Kimeru language. Univariable and multivariable linear and logistic regression models were fit to determine factors associated with cows’ lying time and dichotomized stall and cows’ own cleanliness, respectively. RESULTS: The mean daily lying time was 10.9±2.2 h, and the mean stall cleanliness score was 2.4±1.0. The mean average cleanliness scores of the udder and upper legs were 1.9±0.7 and 2.5±1.1, respectively. Overall, 35% of the stalls were categorized as dirty (>2.5), whereas 13% and 47% of the cows had udder and leg cleanliness scores >2.5, respectively. From the final multivariable models (p<0.05), daily lying time increased by 1.0 h for cows older than 5.25 years versus younger cows. Conversely, lying time decreased by 1.0 h with stall cleanliness scores >2.5 and by 1.6 h with poorly positioned neck rails. In an interaction term, addition of new bedding at least once a day without removing stall manure at least once a day decreased the daily lying time of the cows by 1.5 h, whereas failure to add new bedding at least once a day but removing stall manure at least once a day decreased the lying time of the cows by 1.2 h. Farm-level risk factors for stall dirtiness (>2.5) included delayed cleaning of the alley (odds ratio [OR]=6.6, p=0.032), lack of bedding (OR=4.9, p=0.008), and standing idle and/or backward in the stall (OR=10.5, p=0.002). Stalls categorized as dirty (OR=2.9, p=0.041) and lack of bedding (OR=2.7, p=0.065) were cow- and farm-level risk factors for dirtiness of the udder (>2.5), respectively, whereas the stall being dirty (OR=2.3, p=0.043) was the only risk factor (cow level) for dirtiness of the upper legs (>2.5). CONCLUSION: It was recommended that farmers should pay attention to the specific factors identified regarding the stall design (e.g., neck rail position) and bedding/manure management that impact the cleanliness of cows and their lying time.
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spelling pubmed-67025462019-09-16 Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya Kathambi, E. K. VanLeeuwen, J. A. Gitau, G. K. Kamunde, C. Vet World Research Article BACKGROUND AND AIM: The welfare of animals kept in livestock production systems has raised concerns around the world. Adult dairy cattle require adequate rest and spend approximately 12 h/day lying down. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the stall factors and management practices affecting cows’ lying time, stall cleanliness, and cows’ cleanliness (udder and upper leg), in smallholder dairy cows in Meru County of Kenya. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 106 milking cows from 73 farms were assessed for daily lying time and cleanliness. Data loggers were used to record the lying time of cows for 3 days. Stall, udder, and upper leg cleanliness were assessed using a 5-score system: 1 (very clean) to 5 (very dirty). Management information was acquired using a questionnaire that was administered face-to-face to the farmers in their native Kimeru language. Univariable and multivariable linear and logistic regression models were fit to determine factors associated with cows’ lying time and dichotomized stall and cows’ own cleanliness, respectively. RESULTS: The mean daily lying time was 10.9±2.2 h, and the mean stall cleanliness score was 2.4±1.0. The mean average cleanliness scores of the udder and upper legs were 1.9±0.7 and 2.5±1.1, respectively. Overall, 35% of the stalls were categorized as dirty (>2.5), whereas 13% and 47% of the cows had udder and leg cleanliness scores >2.5, respectively. From the final multivariable models (p<0.05), daily lying time increased by 1.0 h for cows older than 5.25 years versus younger cows. Conversely, lying time decreased by 1.0 h with stall cleanliness scores >2.5 and by 1.6 h with poorly positioned neck rails. In an interaction term, addition of new bedding at least once a day without removing stall manure at least once a day decreased the daily lying time of the cows by 1.5 h, whereas failure to add new bedding at least once a day but removing stall manure at least once a day decreased the lying time of the cows by 1.2 h. Farm-level risk factors for stall dirtiness (>2.5) included delayed cleaning of the alley (odds ratio [OR]=6.6, p=0.032), lack of bedding (OR=4.9, p=0.008), and standing idle and/or backward in the stall (OR=10.5, p=0.002). Stalls categorized as dirty (OR=2.9, p=0.041) and lack of bedding (OR=2.7, p=0.065) were cow- and farm-level risk factors for dirtiness of the udder (>2.5), respectively, whereas the stall being dirty (OR=2.3, p=0.043) was the only risk factor (cow level) for dirtiness of the upper legs (>2.5). CONCLUSION: It was recommended that farmers should pay attention to the specific factors identified regarding the stall design (e.g., neck rail position) and bedding/manure management that impact the cleanliness of cows and their lying time. Veterinary World 2019-07 2019-07-21 /pmc/articles/PMC6702546/ /pubmed/31528037 http://dx.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1085-1092 Text en Copyright: © Kathambi, et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kathambi, E. K.
VanLeeuwen, J. A.
Gitau, G. K.
Kamunde, C.
Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title_full Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title_fullStr Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title_short Risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in Kenya
title_sort risk factors associated with cows’ lying time, stall and cows’ own cleanliness in smallholder dairy farms in kenya
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6702546/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31528037
http://dx.doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1085-1092
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