Browsing by Author "Kennedy E"

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    Cow- and herd-level risk factors for lameness in partly housed pasture-based dairy cows
    (Elsevier Inc and Fass Inc on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association, 2022-02) Browne N; Hudson CD; Crossley RE; Sugrue K; Kennedy E; Huxley JN; Conneely M
    Lameness in dairy cows is a major animal welfare concern and has substantial economic impact through reduced production and fertility. Previous risk factor analyses have focused on housed systems, rather than those where cows were grazed for the majority of the year and housed only for the winter period. Therefore, the aim of this observational study was to identify a robust set of cow-level and herd-level risk factors for lameness in a pasture-based system, based on predictors from the housing and grazing periods. Ninety-nine farms were visited during the grazing period (April 2019–September 2019), and 85 farms were revisited during the housing period (October 2019–February 2020). At each visit, all lactating cows were scored for lameness (0 = good mobility, 1 = imperfect mobility, 2 = impaired mobility, 3 = severely impaired mobility), and potential herd-level risk factors were recorded through questionnaires and infrastructure measurements. Routine cow-level management data were also collected. Important risk factors for lameness were derived though triangulation of results from elastic net regression, and from logistic regression model selection using modified Bayesian information criterion. Both selection methods were implemented using bootstrapping. This novel approach has not previously been used in a cow-level or herd-level risk factor analysis in dairy cows, to the authors' knowledge. The binary outcome variable was lameness status, whereby cows with a lameness score of 0 or 1 were classed as non-lame and cows with a score of 2 or 3 were classed as lame. Cow-level risk factors for increased lameness prevalence were age and genetic predicted transmitting ability for lameness. Herd-level risk factors included farm and herd size, stones in paddock gateways, slats on cow tracks near the collecting yard, a sharper turn at the parlor exit, presence of digital dermatitis on the farm, and the farmers' perception of whether lameness was a problem on the farm. This large-scale study identified the most important associations between risk factors and lameness, based on the entire year (grazing and housing periods), providing a focus for future randomized clinical trials.
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    Lameness prevalence and management practices on Irish pasture-based dairy farms
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2022-06-08) Browne N; Hudson CD; Crossley RE; Sugrue K; Kennedy E; Huxley JN; Conneely M
    Background Lameness is a painful disease, which negatively impacts dairy cow production and welfare. The aim of this observational study was to determine herd lameness prevalence, describe current lameness management practices and identify the presence of established risk factors for lameness on Irish pasture-based dairy farms. Farms were visited once during grazing (99 farms) and again during housing (85 farms). Lameness scoring was carried out at each visit (AHDB 0–3 scale); cows were classified as lame if they scored two or three. Farm management practices and infrastructure characteristics were evaluated via farmer questionnaires and direct measurements of farm infrastructure. Results Median herd-level lameness prevalence was 7.9% (interquartile range = 5.6 – 13.0) during grazing and 9.1% (interquartile range = 4.9 – 12.0) during housing; 10.9% of cows were lame at a single visit and 3.5% were lame at both visits (chronically lame or had a repeat episode of lameness). Fifty-seven percent of farmers were not familiar with lameness scoring and only one farm carried out lameness scoring. Only 22% of farmers kept records of lame cows detected, and 15% had a lameness herd health plan. Twenty-eight percent of farmers waited more than 48 h to treat a lame cow, and 21% waited for more than one cow to be identified as lame before treating. Six percent of farmers carried out routine trimming and 31% regularly footbathed (> 12 times per year). Twelve percent put severely lame cows in a closer paddock and 8% stated that they used pain relief to treat severely lame cows. Over 50% of farms had at least one cow track measurement that was classified as rough or very rough, and cow tracks were commonly narrow for the herd size. On 6% of farms, all cubicle beds were bare concrete (no matting or bedding) and on a further 6% of farms, there was a combination of cubicles with and without matting or bedding. On 56% of farms, all pens contained less than 1.1 cubicles per cow and on 28% of farms, a proportion of pens contained less than 1.1 cubicles per cow. Conclusions Overall, this study identified infrastructure and management practices which could be improved upon. The comparatively low lameness prevalence demonstrated, compared to fully housed systems, also highlights the benefits of a pasture-based system for animal welfare; however, there remains scope for improvement.
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    To translocate or not to translocate? Embedding population modelling in an inclusive structured decision-making process to overcome a conservation impasse
    (John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of the Zoological Society of London, 2024-07-20) Parlato EH; Fischer JH; Steeves TE; Graydon K; Kennedy E; Makan T; Patterson E; Thurley T; Welch J; Parker KA; Ewen J; Petracca L
    The need for effective conservation strategies to combat the ongoing biodiversity crisis is well recognised. Conservation translocations are an important and frequently used form of conservation management for species recovery. Despite this, the uncertainty prevalent throughout the translocation cycle often makes it challenging to determine whether translocations should be included in the suite of actions to achieve desired conservation outcomes. Further, the fundamental question of whether translocations should occur is seldom assessed as a formal decision. We applied a formal decision analysis for the conservation management of a highly threatened bird (karure | kakaruia | Chatham Island black robin | Petroica traversi) to evaluate whether translocation and/or other actions should be implemented for species recovery. The species' precarious status (<330 adults), combined with uncertainty about translocation outcomes, meant that for years, decision-makers were reluctant to act given the potentially severe consequences of translocation failure. We used structured decision-making in conjunction with population modelling to estimate the consequences of translocations and other actions across a range of objectives identified by Moriori and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri (Indigenous Peoples of Rēkohu | Wharekauri | the Chatham Islands), the local community and government agencies. Structured decision-making facilitated an inclusive approach that ensured all participants were actively engaged in the decision-making process including the identification of the best management alternative while balancing multiple objectives. This process overcame the long-standing conservation impasse, resulting in rapid implementation of actions, including translocation, that would have otherwise been difficult to achieve. The preferred alternative across objectives involved multiple translocations, illustrating the vital role translocations have in the desired future management for the species. The methods used in our study can be readily applied in other species recovery programmes to help decision-makers navigate the complexities and uncertainties inherent in conservation decisions.