Calf Diseases and Mortality in Swedish Dairy Herds

Olsson, S.-O., S. Viring, U. Emanuelson and S.-O. Jacobsson: Calf diseases and mortality in Swedish dairy herds. Acta vet. Scand. 1993,34, 263-269.– A survey of the mortality and morbidity affecting calves during the first 3 months of life was carried out. Results are reported from 131 herds with altogether 5,050 calvings. These herds kept individual calf cards for all calves born. The incidences of abortions and stillborn calves were 0.6% and 3.6%, respectively. During the period 0-90 days the mortality and morbidity were 2.6% and 11.0%, respectively. The frequencies of enteritis and pneumonia in calves were 7.2% and 0.8%. Mortality and morbidity were influenced by breed, season, age of the dam and time of first colostrum. The frequencies of abortions, stillborn calves, mortality and morbidity varied considerably between herds. Herd factors influencing mortality and morbidity during different periods of time were: herd size, yield, zero-grazing, whether the calf was allowed to feed by suckling, the design of the calf pens, and previous incidence of infectious enteritis in the herd. On average, both mortality and morbidity in calves were low, though in certain herds, temporarily high frequencies were registered.     

Descriptive epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in Minnesota dairy heifer calves

A prospective study was carried out on 845 heifer calves born during 1991 on 30 Holstein dairy farms in southeast Minnesota. The objectives of the study were to describe the epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in dairy calves from birth to 16 weeks of age (with an emphasis on respiratory disease), to examine individual calf and herd management practices as risk factors for calf morbidity and mortality, and to validate producer diagnosis of mortality. Incidence rates for all morbidity, enteritis, and pneumonia were 0.20, 0.15, and 0.10 cases per 100 calf-days at risk for the period of the study. Risk of enteritis was highest in the first 3 weeks of life, with pneumonia risk highest at 10 weeks of age. Case fatality rates averaged 11.8%, 17.9%, and 9.4% for all diagnoses, enteritis, and pneumonia, respectively. Average daily rates of gain from birth to 16 weeks of age differed between farms that had inadequate calf housing (0.8 kg day⁻¹) versus those with adequate calf housing (1.0 kg day⁻¹). Approximately half of the calves in the cohort (418) had blood samples taken monthly from birth until 16 weeks of age. Of the calves sampled, only 19 calves showed a four-fold rise in serum titers to respiratory viruses. Sixteen calves seroconverted to BVDV, two calves to IBRV, and one calf to PI3 virus. Of 98 calves less than 10 days of age tested for adequacy of passive transfer, 35 (35.7%) had serum immunoglobulin levels of less than 800 mg dl⁻¹. There were no significant differences in mortality or morbidity between calves that had adequate passive transfer and those that did not. The incidence of mortality was 0.08 deaths per 100 calf-days at risk; 64 calves died during the 16 months of the study. The risk of death was highest at 2 weeks of age. Enteritis was the most common cause of death (28 deaths, 44% of all deaths) followed by pneumonia (19 deaths, 30% of all deaths). Comparing producer diagnosis of mortality with necropsy results yielded sensitivities of 58.3% and 56% and specificities of 93% and 100% for producer diagnoses of enteritis and pneumonia, respectively. The kappa statistic comparing producer diagnosis with necropsy result was 0.47. The most common pathogens isolated from calves that died of enteritis were rotavirus (five calves), and Escherichia coli (four calves). Pathogens isolated from pneumonic lungs included Pasteurella multocida (three calves), Haemophilus somnus (three calves), and Pasteurella haemolytica (one calf).     

Calf morbidity and mortality in smallholder dairy farms in Ada’a Liben district of Oromia,Ethiopia

A longitudinal observational study on calf morbidity and mortality was conducted in smallholder dairy farms in Ada’a Liben district of Oromia, Ethiopia. A total of 185 calves from 112 market oriented smallholder dairy farms were selected randomly and regularly monitored for clinical health problems up to six months of age. Information on potential risk factors was collected by personal observation during the regular visit to farms and from questionnaire survey conducted during the study period. The overall incidences of crude morbidity and crude mortality were 62 % and 22%, respectively. The most frequent disease syndrome was calf diarrhea with the incidence of 39% followed by joint ill 6%. The other disease conditions/syndromes diagnosed include navel ill, pneumonia, septicemic conditions, congenital problems and miscellaneous cases. Age of the calves, age at first colostrum ingestion and cleanness of the calf barns significantly influenced morbidity. Older calves (greater than three months of age) were at lower risk of crude morbidity than younger calves (less than three months of age) (HR = 0.42, P = 0.001). Higher risk of crude morbidity was observed in calves that ingested their first colostrum meal later than 6 hours of age compared to those that ingested colostrum earlier (HR = 2.24, P = 0.001). Similarly, calves housed in unclean barns were at higher risk of morbidity than calves housed in clean barns (HR = 1.75, P = 0.024). Of the 20 potential risk factors investigated, age was the only factor that was found significantly associated with mortality (HR = 0.04, P = 0.001). Calves older than three months of age were at lower risk of mortality than younger calves.     

Neurological disorders, virus persistence and hypomyelination in calves due to intra-uterine infections with bovine virus diarrhoea virus

The clinical and pathological findings after a natural intra-uterine infection with BVD-virus in a Friesian dairy herd are described. The virological and serological aspects will be discussed in a separate paper (30). In a period of 4 years, 11 calves were born with the following nervous symptoms: more or less serious incoordination, tremor, oscillating nystagmus, and a negative blinking reflex. The pupillary and sucking reflexes were normal. No ocular defects, such as lenticular opacity or retinal atrophy were observed. The first calf was born in 1979. Within 6 months the symptoms disappeared. After a normal conception and pregnancy this animal gave birth to 2 clinically normal calves in 1981 and 1982. The second calf died at the age of 2 months, due to an ulcerating enteritis. In 1980, again 8 calves with the same nervous symptoms were born within a period of 3 months. Two calves died at the age of 3 days and 5 weeks respectively; 2 calves were sold when 10 days and 3 weeks old; one calf did not improve and was necropsied at the age of 17 days. The remaining 3 calves showed only a slight hypermetria when examined after 6 months. At that time nystagmus was only visible with ophthalmoscopy. Two calves were slaughtered when 10 months old. The last one, a bull, proved to be sterile and was necropsied at the age of 1 1/2 year. A calf, born in 1981, recovered within a week and was necropsied at the age of 15 days. The last calf, born in 1982, did not improve at all and was necropsied at the age of 14 days. During these 4 years none of the other animals in the herd showed any symptoms due to an acute or chronic BVD-virus infection. At post mortem examination of 6 animals no macroscopically visible malformations were found. Hypomyelination and abnormal glial cells were evident in 5 cases, especially in the two youngest calves which did not show any improvement. One of them had had an obvious thymic hypoplasia. The calf which recovered within a week showed only very slight changes. In one of the calves slaughtered at 10 months, inflammatory lesions were found in the brain. The diagnosis was confirmed by virological investigations. Clinically as well as pathologically there was a close resemblance to Border disease in lambs and congenital tremor in piglets after prenatal exposure to Hog cholera virus.     

An investigation of the causes of parturient calf mortality in Shorthorn heifers

A study of parturient calf mortality in a herd of 250 Shorthorn cattle on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales is reported. Death rates as high as 44% from heifer groups are described. There were 30 parturient deaths of which 27 were confirmed as due to maternal dystocia. Pathological changes in many of the dystocia-caused deaths were minimal, but a congested, swollen tongue was a definitive lesion. The death rate was not significantly higher in heifers mated at 14 to 16 months of age than in those mated at 20 to 22 months, but significantly more male than female calves died from maternal dystocia. As two dead calves were affected with goitre, a comparative trial using parenteral iodine was designed. Ratios of thyroid weight to calf body weight were examined for 24 of the calves where the mean was 0.52 gm/kg. Goitre was found not to be a contributing factor to the calving mortality problem. The use of a Jersey bull for heifer matings eliminated the dystocia problem. The Jersey cross allowed safe, early mating at 14 months of age.     

Neurological disorders,virus persistence and hypomyelination in calves due to intra‐uterine infections with bovine virus diarrhoea virus

The clinical and pathological findings after a natural intra‐uterine infection with BVD‐virus in a Friesian dairy herd are described. The virological and serological aspects will be discussed in a separate paper (30).

In a period of 4 years, 11 calves were hum with the following nervous symptoms: more or less serious incoördination, tremor, oscillating nystagmus, and a negative blinking reflex. The pupillary and sucking reflexe's were normal. No ocular defects, such as lenticular opacity or retinal atrophy were observed.

The first calf was born in 1979. Within 6 months the symptoms disappeared. After a normal conception and pregnancy this animal gave bⁱrth to 2 clinically normal calves in 1981 and 1982. The second calf died at the age of 2 months, due to an ulcerating enteritis.

In 1980, again 8 calves with the same nervous symptoms were born within a period of 3 months. Two calves died at the age of 3 days and 5 weeks respectively; 2 calves were sold when 10 days and 3 weeks old; one calf did not improve and was necropsied at the age of 17 days. The remaining 3 calves showed only a slight hypermetria when examined after 6 months. At that time nystagmus was only visible with ophthalmoscopy. Two calves were slaughtered when 10 months old. The last one, a bull, proved to be sterile and was necropsied at the age of 1 ½> year.

A calf, born in 1981, recovered within a week and was necropsied at the age of 15 days. The last calf, born in 1982, did not improve at all and was necropsied at the age of 14 days.

During these 4 years none of the other animals in the herd showed any symptoms due to an acute or chronic BVD‐virus infection.

At post mortem examination of 6 animals no macroscopically visible malformations were found. Hypomyelination and abnormal glial cells were evident in 5 cases, especially in the two youngest calves which did not show any improvement. One of them had an obvious thymic hypoplasia. The calf which recovered within a week showed only very slight changes. In one of the calves slaughtered at 10 months, inflammatory lesions were found in the brain. The diagnosis was confirmed by virological investigations.

Clinically as well as pathologically there was a close resemblance to Border disease in lambs and congenital tremor in piglets after prenatal exposure to Hog cholera virus.     

Dairy calf management,morbidity and mortality in Ontario Holstein herds. I. The data

Heifer calf management practices and clinical outcomes were studied on 104 randomly selected Holstein dairy farms in southwestern Ontario between October 1980 and July 1983. Data were collected at both the farm level (all farms) and the individual calf level (1968 calves, 35 farms).Farm-level management data were collected by means of questionnaires and farm visits. Calf-level management data were recorded by farmers on forms provided. Treatments for disease and mortality data were recorded by the farmers on the calves up to the age of weaning, the age at which calves were no longer fed milk or milk substitutes on a regular basis.Farm size ranged from 23 to 154 calvings per year. Farm-level mortality rates per six-month season (winter/summer) were skewed, with a mean of about 6%, a median of zero, and a range of 67%. Morbidity rates were similarly skewed. Four percent of liveborn heifer calves died, 20% were treated for scours, and 15% were treated for pneumonia before the age of weaning.Stated farm policies on calf rearing were implemented to varying degrees on different farms, as estimated from individual calf data. This posed particular problems for interpreting farm-level data, since the danger of committing an ecologic fallacy was high. The data set described in this paper formed the basis for an observational study of the interlationships of heifer calf management and clinical outcomes.     

Reproductive efficiency and calf survival in Ontario beef cow-calf herds: a cross-sectional mail survey.

A survey of the efficiency of production of Ontario beef cow-calf herds was conducted using a stratified systematic random sample of Ontario producers. In general, about 87% of females exposed to breeding produced a live calf and 6% of these died before reaching four weeks of age. The herd to herd variation in these rates was quite large, the coefficient of variation being about 17%. The stillbirth rate was 1.7% and the abortion rate 1.2%. In general, herds in northern Ontario and herds whose owners kept breeding and calving records, had reduced livebirth rates, the latter probably reflecting accuracy of data. Herds with a restricted (less than three months) breeding season had increased livebirth rates. Herds using injectable vitamins ADE, and prophylactic antibiotics, had increased neonatal losses. Herds with a restricted calving season (less than or equal to 3 months) and/or feeding free choice salt to cows had decreased neonatal losses. Herdsize and calf mortality rate were directly related, but this did not appear to be due to increased density of cows at calving time. In herds, where calving occurred during the spring, using scour vaccines in calves was associated with increased calf mortality.     

An epidemiologic study of mortality in veal calves subsequent to an episode of zinc toxicosis on a California veal calf operation using zinc sulfate-supplemented milk replacer

Ninety-five 3- to 6-month old male Holstein veal calves were evaluated after an episode of zinc toxicosis, to describe clinical signs and to identify management and/or host-related factors that may have contributed to death. Clinical signs appeared 23 days after feeding of milk replacer commenced. Of 85 calves examined, 64 had pneumonia (75.5%), 62 had ocular signs (72.9%), 46 had diarrhea (54.1%), 34 were anorectic (40.0%), 15 were bloated (17.6%), 8 had cardiac arrhythmias (9.4%), 3 had convulsions (3.5%), and 3 were polydipsic/polyphagic (3.5%). Clinical signs began to appear when calves each were being fed approximately 1.5 to 2.0 g of zinc/day and exposed to a cumulative zinc intake of 42 to 70 g, from a milk replacer containing 706 micrograms of elemental zinc/g of milk replacer. Of 95 calves studied, 1 died before zinc was supplemented, 16 died during the episode, 12 were euthanatized, 1 was lost to follow-up evaluation, 1 was culled, and 64 were slaughtered. Deaths attributable to zinc toxicosis were observed between 25 and 53 days after the milk replacer was supplemented with zinc. Calves died while being exposed cumulatively to 30 to 66 g of zinc. The factors of previous pneumonia severity, age, cumulative daily exposure to zinc, and calf location within a bay were examined for possible associations with mortality, using stepwise logistic regression. Though younger calves tended to have a higher mortality than older calves, neither age category nor severity of pneumonia, before zinc supplementation, accounted for a significant mortality.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Risk factors for calf mortality in large Swedish dairy herds

The aim of this study was to identify possible risk factors for 1-90 day calf mortality in large Swedish dairy herds. Sixty herds with a herd size of ≥160 cows were visited once between December 2005 and March 2006. Thirty herds were known to have low mortality (LM) and 30 were known high mortality herds (HM). Upon the visit, data about housing and management was collected from interviews with personnel responsible for the calves. The herd status regarding the calves' passive transfer (total protein), levels of α-tocopherol, β-carotene and retinol, and excretion of faecal pathogens (Cryptosporidium spp., Escherichia coli F5, rota and corona virus) was evaluated based on targeted sampling of high risk calf groups; in each herd, blood and faecal samples were collected from calves 1-7 and 1-14 days old, respectively. Similarly, the herd status regarding clinical respiratory disease in calves and history of respiratory virus exposure was evaluated based on lung auscultations and blood samplings of calves 60-90 days old. The median calf mortality risk (in calves 1-90 days of age) among HM herds was 9% (Range: 6-24%) and among LM herds 1% (Range: 0-2%). LM and HM herds were compared using five logistic regression models, covering potential risk factors within different areas: "Disease susceptibility", "Factors affecting the gastrointestinal tract", "Factors related to transmission of infectious disease", "Hygiene" and "Labour management". The percentage of calves, 1-7 days old, with inadequate serum concentrations of α-tocopherol and β-carotene were significantly higher in HM herds compared to LM herds and also associated with higher odds of being a HM herd (OR=1.02; p=0.023 and OR=1.05; p=0.0028, respectively). The variable "Average number of faecal pathogens in the sampled target group" was significantly associated with higher odds of being a HM herd (OR=4.65; p=0.015), with a higher average in HM herds. The percentage of calves with diarrhoea treated with antibiotics was significantly higher in HM herds and was associated with higher odds of being a HM herd (OR=1.08; p=0.021). The median age at death of calves in the age interval 1-90 days that died during a one-year period was significantly lower among HM herds (13 days) than in LM herds (24 days) (p=0.0013) The results indicate that gastrointestinal disorders may be an important cause of calf mortality in large Swedish dairy herds. Furthermore, our study provides additional indications that fat soluble vitamins might play an important role for calf health.     

Persistent bovine viral diarrhoea virus infection in US beef herds

In the summer of 1996, we screened 18,931 calves in 128 beef herds located in five US states for persistent bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection. Of these, 76 herds were randomly selected from the client database of collaborating veterinary practices, and 52 herds were suspected by the collaborating veterinarians to have BVDV infection based on history or clinical signs. Serum was obtained from each calf in the cooperating herds prior to 4 months of age and tested for the presence of BVDV by microtiter virus isolation. Information about each of the herds (including management practices, vaccination history, and breeding- and calving-season production measures) were collected by the collaborating veterinarians using standardized questionnaires. A total of 56 BVDV-positive calves in 13 herds were identified on initial screening. Ten (19%) of the BVDV-suspect herds and three (4%) of the randomly selected herds had > or = 1 BVDV-positive calf at initial screening. Multiple BVDV-positive calves were identified in 10 of those 13 herds. Follow-up information was obtained for 54 of the 56 positive calves. Ten out of 54 (18%) died prior to weaning, and 1 (2%) was sold because of unusually poor growth. Thirty-three out of 54 (61%) of the initially positive calves remained BVDV positive at 6 months of age - confirming persistent-infection (PI) status. Dams of 45 of the 56 positive calves were tested, with 3 (7%) identified as positive - indicating most PI calves were products of acute dam infection during gestation. The proportion of cows that were pregnant at the fall 1995 pregnancy examination was 5% lower in herds with PI calves born during the 1996 calving season than in randomly selected herds without PI calves. Most of the calves we identified with persistent BVDV infections survived to weaning, and could provide a constant source of virus to the herd throughout the breeding season and early gestation.     

Factors affecting calf mortality in Iranian Holstein dairy herds

The objective of this study was to document mortality reasons and risk factors for mortality in dairy calves in the northeast of Iran. This was a prospective cohort study of calves born on ten commercial dairy herds from 21 March 2009 to 20 March 2010. A total of 4097 live calves were followed for 90 days after birth. For each calf details of sex, parity of the dam, type of parturition and season of birth were recorded. The interval (in days) from the date of birth to the date of death and the reason for death was recorded for those calves that died before 90 days of age. A Cox proportional hazards model, including a frailty term to account for unmeasured herd-level effects was developed to quantify the effect of factors associated with time to death. Two hundred and sixty-six (6.5%, 95% CI: 5.8-7.3%) of the 4097 live-born calves died or were euthanised before 90 days of age. The most important reasons for death were digestive tract disorders (58% of all deaths, 95% CI: 52-64%) followed by respiratory diseases (13% of all deaths, 95% CI: 9-17%). Calves exposed to dystocia at birth had 2.09 (95% CI: 1.49-2.92) times the daily hazard of death compared with calves born from a normal calving. The daily hazard of death for calves born in the summer was 1.93 (95% CI: 1.41-2.64) times greater than the hazard for those calves born in the autumn. Inclusion of the herd-level frailty term had a significant effect on hazard estimates indicating that the study herds were heterogeneous in the distribution of unmeasured herd-level factors influencing calf survival. Our results show that diarrhoea is the most important cause of calf mortality in dairy herds in this area of Iran and that environmental and management factors affect calf mortality rate.     

Epidemiology of theilerioses in the Trans-Mara division, Kenya: Husbandry and disease background and preliminary investigations on theilerioses in calves

All the calves born (116) into 3 Maasai cattle herds in the Trans-Mara Division of Kenya, between August 1978 and October 1979, were recruited into a monthly health study which concentrated on theileriosis. Twenty-two of the calves died before they were 6 months of age, but the mortality only increased to 25% by the time the calves reached 18 months of age. The mean birth weight of calves was 17.5 kg while at 190 days post-birth the mean weight was 53.4 kg. The main causes of mortality were starvation (7.8%), neonatal diarrhoea (2.6%), chronic indigestion (2.6%) and theileriosis (2.6%) due to Theileria parva and T. mutans infections. The calves were infected with ticks from birth (mostly Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Amblyomma spp.) and the first Theileria schizonts were detected on Day 17 post birth and reached a maximum of 18.4% of calves in the 11th week post-birth. Seasonal peaks of macroschizont incidence occurred in February and July. All calves had patent Theileria piroplasm infections by the time they were 5 months old and 44% had shown patent Theileria macroschizont infections by 6–7 months of age. Generally low parasitosis of Theileria piroplasms and schizonts occurred. Serology using the indirect fluorescent antibody test showed a high proportion of calves received antibodies against T. mutans and T. parva from their dams by way of colostrum. The majority of calves also had active antibody responses against T. mutans and T. parva by the time they were 6 months of age. There was a correlation between the pre-patent period of piroplasms and active antibody responses to T. mutans and between the prepatent period of schizonts and an antibody response to T. parva. Eighteen older calves developed T. velifera infections. “Turning sickness” due to Theileria infection in the brain was detected in older cattle. Other blood parasites such as Trypanosoma vivax, T. congolense, Anaplasma marginale and Babesia bigemina occurred at patent levels at a lower incidence than Theileria spp. and did not cause disease problems in the calves. The calf population was highly resistant to theileriosis since they had a 100% morbidity, but only 2.6% mortality. Theileria infections would appear to have an important effect on the growth of calves but this and many aspects of the epidemiology of theileriosis in the area required more intensive sampling.     

Dairy calf mortality rate: characteristics of calf mortality rates in Tulare County, California.

Sixteen dairy farm owners in Tulare County, California, provided data on heifer calf births and deaths. Eleven of these dairymen had maintained records on the calves before this study was done, and 5 agreed to maintain them for 6 months. Basic statistical techniques, including time series analyses and life-table methods, were used to examine the data for temporal and demographic characteristics. Overall, the calf mortality rate on the 16 farms averaged 17.3 to 20.2%. The interfarm variation in mortality rate was large, ranging from 3.7 to 32.1%. Time series studies indicated that the extent of death losses increased during midsummer (June, July, August) and midwinter (November, December, January), with mortality rates in winter months being 20% greater than those in summer. Death losses in October and March were highly variable; however, losses in October usually exceeded the yearly average; those in March did not. Also, 80% of the dairymen recorded the same relative change in mortality rate during each of 2 consecutive winters and 2 consecutive summers. The risk of death for calves was greatest in their 1st week of life on most of the farms; of all deaths in calves less than 5 weeks old, 55% occurred during the 1st week of life, and 27% occurred during the 2nd. In general, the death loss in calves between 5 weeks and 3 months old was less than 2%.     

Gross postmortem and histologic examination findings from abortion losses and calf mortalities in western Canadian beef herds

Production losses from abortions, stillbirths, and early calf mortality were described for the 2002 calf crop in 203 beef herds in western Canada. A total of 1689 calves were examined. A summary diagnosis was reported for 64% of aborted calves, 78% of stillborn calves, 88% of neonatal calves, and 94% of the calves > 3 d of age. Diagnoses for aborted calves included: thyroid gland lesions, pneumonia, developmental anomalies, placentitis, and myocardial necrosis or myopathy. For stillborn calves, diagnostic findings included: dystocia, thyroid gland lesions, myocardial necrosis or myopathy, developmental anomalies, and skeletal myopathy or necrosis. The most common diagnoses for neonatal calves (≤ 3 d) were: pneumonia, skeletal myopathy or necrosis, myocardial necrosis or myopathy, accident or trauma, and septicemia. For older calves (3 d to 3 mo), the most common diagnoses included: starvation, abomasal ulcer or perforation, enteritis or colitis, pneumonia, and intestinal volvulus, obstruction, or perforation.     

Calf mortality as a welfare indicator on British cattle farms

The objective of this study was to test calf mortality as an indicator of on-farm welfare and its use for welfare targeted surveillance. Calf mortality data were retrieved for three UK counties to estimate calf mortality rates at holding and county level. A selection criterion based on upper quartiles of calf mortality for the county of concern was defined. Its predictive ability was tested in a field study. The death risk of calves less than 6 months of age in 2002 was 1.76% in Inverness, 5.83% in Cheshire and 4.8% in Norfolk. Fifty-two welfare inspections matched by parish were conducted between October 2004 and January 2005. The positive predictive value was 26.92% and the negative predictive value was 65.38%. The addition of herd type, county and membership to an assurance scheme improved the predictive value. This study shows that calf mortality can be the starting point to design targeted welfare inspections in countries with centralized animal data recording systems.     

The impact of Theileria parva infections and other factors on calf mean daily weight gains in smallholder dairy farms in Murang’a District, Kenya

The association between mean daily weight gain, Theileria parva infections, clinical East Coast fever and other possible determinants of weight gain were examined in a longitudinal observational study that was conducted in cohorts of female calves from five agro-ecological zone (AEZ)-grazing strata. The strata were upper-midlands (UM) 1 zero-grazing, UM 1 open-grazing, UM 2 zero-grazing, UM 4 zero-grazing and UM 4 open-grazing. In total, 225 calves on 188 smallholder dairy farms were visited within the first 2 weeks of life and thereafter at biweekly intervals up to the age of 6 months between March 1995 and August 1996. During each visit, the calves were weighed and other calf-management practices in the farm during the visit such as housing, feeding and tick control also were recorded. Other events such as morbidity and mortality between or during the visits were also recorded.The overall mean daily weight gains were 0.24–0.29 kg (S.D.=0.17–0.22 kg) and were lower than the recommended targets for smallholder farms of 0.40–0.50 kg. The major tendency in variability of daily weight gains was due to visit-to-visit variation (especially in calves >3 months old).Differences in mean daily gains were associated with AEZ-grazing strata and calf-level factors that included breed of calf, calf sickness, incidence of ECF, feeding of milk, concentrate feeds and minerals and interaction between calf age and AEZ-grazing strata (P<0.05). ECF and other calf sicknesses exerted a temporal effect on calf-growth at the height of illness and immediately after; calves later recovered the lost growth except where other factors such as poor calf nutrition prevailed. Improvement in calf-growth in Murang’a District is achievable and extension services should continue to target individual-calf-level management practices.     

The impact of Theileria parva infections and other factors on calf mean daily weight gains in smallholder dairy farms in Murang'a District, Kenya

The association between mean daily weight gain, Theileria parva infections, clinical East Coast fever and other possible determinants of weight gain were examined in a longitudinal observational study that was conducted in cohorts of female calves from five agro-ecological zone (AEZ)-grazing strata. The strata were upper-midlands (UM) 1 zero-grazing, UM 1 open-grazing, UM 2 zero-grazing, UM 4 zero-grazing and UM 4 open-grazing. In total, 225 calves on 188 smallholder dairy farms were visited within the first 2 weeks of life and thereafter at biweekly intervals up to the age of 6 months between March 1995 and August 1996. During each visit, the calves were weighed and other calf-management practices in the farm during the visit such as housing, feeding and tick control also were recorded. Other events such as morbidity and mortality between or during the visits were also recorded.

The overall mean daily weight gains were 0.24–0.29 kg (S.D.=0.17–0.22 kg) and were lower than the recommended targets for smallholder farms of 0.40–0.50 kg. The major tendency in variability of daily weight gains was due to visit-to-visit variation (especially in calves >3 months old).

Differences in mean daily gains were associated with AEZ-grazing strata and calf-level factors that included breed of calf, calf sickness, incidence of ECF, feeding of milk, concentrate feeds and minerals and interaction between calf age and AEZ-grazing strata (P<0.05). ECF and other calf sicknesses exerted a temporal effect on calf-growth at the height of illness and immediately after; calves later recovered the lost growth except where other factors such as poor calf nutrition prevailed. Improvement in calf-growth in Murang’a District is achievable and extension services should continue to target individual-calf-level management practices.     

Partitioning the Mortality Risk Associated with Inadequate Passive Transfer of Colostral Immunoglobulins in Dairy Calves

This study developed a method to partition the risk of mortality in dairy calves in the 1st 16 weeks of life. Observed population mortality and the relative risk of mortality in each serum protein concentration stratum were used to determine the population baseline mortality rate and the mortality rate due to inadequate passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulin. A total of 3,479 calves were studied, 8.2% of which died before 16 weeks of age. The population baseline mortality rate was 5.0% and the mortality rate due to inadequate passive transfer was 3.2%. Thirty-nine percent of the observed mortality was attributed to inadequate passive transfer. This partitioning of risk between passive transfer-related and unrelated sources should prove useful in conducting investigations of calf mortality problems in dairy herds.     

Endemic stability for Theileria parva infections in Ankole calves of the Ankole ranching scheme, Uganda

A population-based study was carried out on the Ankole ranching scheme in south-west Uganda with the aim of determining the endemic status of Theileria parva infections. For this purpose, the age-related sero-prevalence of T. parva and the specific calf mortality associated with the parasite were assessed. Blood samples were collected from 931 Ankole calves of up to 12 months of age from 81 randomly selected herds. The relationship between rainfall pattern and whole-body Rhipicephalus appendiculatus counts was determined. The influence of tick control practices on East Coast fever-related calf mortality, and sero-positivity were also determined. A significant (r2 = 0.76, P = 0.000) association between R. appendiculatus counts and rainfall was observed. There was no significant (P > 0.05) association between theileriosis-related calf mortality, sero-positivity and the different tick control practices. Antibody prevalence based on the PIM ELISA was above 70% among calves of 6 months of age in 96% in all the herds. Theileria parva-related calf mortality determined by repeated herd visits and farm records ranged between 0 % and 5.4 %. It was concluded that endemic stability for theileriosis, caused by T. parva, existed in the study area, and that the risk of the occurrence of economically important outbreaks of East Coast fever in indigenous cattle was regarded as minimal under the prevailing conditions.