Impact of seasonal grazing on udder health of cows
The somatic cell count (SCC) in individual cow milk was used as an indicator of the udder health of cows in the mountain area in the Czech Republic. The monthly test-day records on SCC in milk of total 12,788 cows from 26 herds were scrutinized in order to elucidate the impact of the seasonal grazin...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mendel University Press
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://acta.mendelu.cz/59/1/0053/ |
| Summary: | The somatic cell count (SCC) in individual cow milk was used as an indicator of the udder health of cows in the mountain area in the Czech Republic. The monthly test-day records on SCC in milk of total 12,788 cows from 26 herds were scrutinized in order to elucidate the impact of the seasonal grazing on occurrence of milk secretion disorders. The interaction between the season (summer: May−October; winter: November−April) and the feeding system (seasonal grazing; permanently-indoor feeding) effects was used as a measure of the effect of pasture on SCC. The effect of season significantly interacted with the effect of farm (P < 0.001) and the between-farm variation in SCC was higher than the seasonal variation on particular farms. In both the feeding systems, the SCC was lower in the summer season than in the winter season (P < 0.01). The effect of season did not interact with the effect of feeding system (P > 0.05). The Holstein cows had on average higher SCC than the Czech Fleckvieh cows (P < 0.001) and this genetic effect did not interact with the season nor with the season and the farm effects (P > 0.05). The results indicated a higher importance of the management and the genetic factors for the occurrence of milk secretion disorders in comparison to the seasonal factors. No negative effect of the seasonal grazing on udder health was identified. |
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| ISSN: | 1211-8516 2464-8310 |