@conference {89251, title = {Behaviour of New Zealand pasture-based cows offered access to free stalls fitted with sand or water beds, compared with cows at pasture}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {73}, year = {2013}, month = {Jan}, pages = {186-188}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Hamilton}, abstract = {

New Zealand dairy cows have typically been \ grazed on pasture all year round, however intensification of milk production systems has led to increased nitrogen loss into the environment (de Klein \& Ledgard 2001; Luo et al. 2007). Limiting the amount of time that cows have access to pasture, particulalry during inclement weather, by the use of feed pads or cow housing for parts of the season or day (de Klein 2001), can reduce nitrogen loss into waterways (Christensen et al. 2012). This approch is particularly important in protecting the soil and pasture from treading damage (Arnold 2009) and can allow non-lactating cows to be retained on the dairy unit over the winter or animals to be sheltered from excessive rain, cold and sunshine. Unfortunately, many New Zealand dairy farmers and the majority of cows have little or no experience of cow housing.

This experiment was completed to assess the acceptance and use of differing free stall bed types by adult dairy cows, with no previous experience of housing, and to compare this with cows kept at pasture. The evening and nightly, daytime grazing and overall daily behaviour patterns of these cows are reported and discussed in this brief comunication.

}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Lau J and Margerison JK and Hedley MJ and Horne DJ and Hanly JA and Powell N and Shilton AN} } @conference {89250, title = {Mastitis pathogens isolated from dairy cattle that were managed on conventionally or organically maintained matched farmlets}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {73}, year = {2013}, month = {Jan}, pages = {183-185}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Hamilton}, abstract = {

Mastitis is a common disease of dairy cattle causing significant economic loss (Seegers et al. 2003), which has been estimated to cost the New Zealand dairy industry $180 million annually (Malcolm 2006). It has been shown that dairy cattle in the first lactation are particularly susceptible to infections from environmental pathogens, including Streptococcus uberis(Woolford \& Lacy-Hulbert 1996) and that this was the most common environmental pathogen, involved in the development of clinical mastitis of dairy cattle in New Zealand (Pankey et al. 1982, 1996; McDougall,1999). Studies completed in the Waikato region of New Zealand described the pathogens isolated from dairy cattle with clinical mastitis and reported that 27 to 75\% of cases were infected with Streptococcus uberis, whereas 9 to 10\% were Coagulase-negative-staphylococci(CNS), 3 to 5\% were Staphylococcus aureus, 2 to 5\% were coliforms and finally 1.5 to 4 \% were\  Strep.

}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Ullah Z and Margerison JK and Simcock DC and Thatcher A and Lopez-Villalobos N} } @conference {75888, title = {Genetic analysis of incidence of recorded clinical lameness in New Zealand dairy cattle}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {71}, year = {2011}, month = {Jan}, pages = {126-130}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Invercargill}, abstract = {Herd records from 76,357 cows, collected during the 2005/06 to 2008/09 milking seasons from 155 herds in the Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) young sire progeny test scheme, were used to estimate genetic parameters and breed effects for incidence of recorded clinical lameness (RCL) in Holstein-Friesian, Jersey and crossbred dairy cattle. RCL was coded "1" for cows that presented at least one event of RCL at any day during the season and "0" for cows without RCL. Genetic parameters were estimated with a repeatability animal model across breeds. The average incidence of RCL per herd was 6.3\% and ranged from 2\% to 34\%. Jersey cows had significantly (P <0.05) lower incidence (6.0\%) than Friesian cows (6.8\%) but similar to crossbred cows (6.1\%). The heritability estimate for incidence of RCL was 0.016 {\textpm} 0.003 (standard error) while the repeatability was 0.071 {\textpm} 0.005. Sire estimated breeding values for RCL ranged between -5 and 8\% with Jersey sires showing the lowest values. These results suggest that selection for resistance to lameness will result in a low rate of genetic gain but using Jersey sires can be an alternative to increase genetic resistance to lameness in New Zealand dairy cattle.}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Chawala AR and Lopez-Villalobos N and Margerison JK and Spelman RJ} } @conference {69512, title = {Measurement of sole thickness and distance to distal phalanx using a portable ultrasound machine}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {70}, year = {2010}, month = {Jun}, pages = {240-242}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Palmerston North}, abstract = {Using a high specification ultrasound machine, with the ultrasound transducer applied to the sole surface, Kofler et al.(1999) were able to estimate sole and soft tissue thickness in claws from bovine cadavers. These ultrasound estimates were significantly correlated with measurements, made using mechanical callipers,of the same parameters in claws after sectioning. Moreover, Kofler et al.(1999) demonstrated that it was possible to image the internal structures of the bovine claw in the live animal and also reported the use of a portable ultrasound. They did however state that the images were of lower quality, due to the poorer resolution of the transducer, and were more difficult to obtain. In contrast, van Amstel et al.}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Laven LJ and Margerison JK and Laven RA} } @conference {60940, title = {Factors associated with frequency of lameness in dairy cattle managed in pasture based systems with the addition of supplementary feeds : Brief Communication}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {69}, year = {2009}, month = {Jun}, pages = {51-53}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Christchurch}, abstract = {Lameness is one of the main welfare problems of New Zealand dairy herds (Chesterton et al., 2008) and contributes directly to cow culling, treatment costs, production losses and reduced economic efficiency (Kossaibati \& Esslemont, 1997). The incidence of lameness can be high, affecting as many as 60\% (Vermunt, 2004) of cows annually, but can vary from between 5 and 55\% (Clarkson et al., 1996) according to differing observation techniques and... Continued}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Diaz-Lira CM and Margerison JK and Lopez-Villalobos N and Gibbs SJ} } @conference {42063, title = {Comparison of lameness and hoof horn puncture resistance of New Zealand Friesian and Jersey cross Friesian dairy cattle}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {68}, year = {2008}, month = {Jan}, pages = {128-129}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Brisbane, Australia}, abstract = {Sole lesions have been found to be one of the most common causes of lameness in both New Zealand (Chesterton, 2004) and the United Kingdom (Logue, 1999). In most studies it was found that these hoof horn lesions develop in postpartum animals and in hind claws (Greenough \& Vermunt, 1991) and that these are associated with a significant reduction in the puncture resistance of the hoof (Winkler \& Margerison, 2006). There has been some reference to lower levels of lameness occurring in Jersey and Jersey cross bred cattle, compared with Holstein Friesian dairy cattle ...Continued }, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Lethbridge LA and Margerison JK and Reynolds GW and Laven R and Brennan CS} } @conference {42031, title = {Effect of offering differing levels of milk and plant extracts on feed intake , growth and development of New Zealand Holstein-Friesian and Jersey crossbred dairy cattle}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {68}, year = {2008}, month = {Jan}, pages = {27-28}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Brisbane, Australia}, abstract = {Calving dairy heifers at 2 years of age at 85 to 90 \% of their mature live weight and being mated at 65\% of their mature live weight, has been found to increase lifetime productivity (Margerison \& Downey, 2005). Recent research has focused on increasing dairy calf liveweight gain and development, while minimising body fat deposition, particularly in mammary parenchyma (Sejrsen, 2005; Brown et al., 2005), by increasing feeding levels during the prepubertal period with differing sources and levels of energy and protein, and the use of probiotics and natural plant extracts to replace antimicrobials (Hill, 2005; Tannan, 2005). The aim of this research was to ... Continued }, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Margerison JK and Lethbridge LA and Reynolds GW} } @conference {41740, title = {The effect of live yeast inclusion into mixed forage diets on milk yield , locomotion score , lameness and sole bruising in first lactation Holstein Friesian dairy cattle}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {67}, year = {2007}, month = {Jan}, pages = {272-275}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Wanaka}, abstract = {The aim was to assess the effect of supplementing mixed forage diets with live yeast on milk yield, locomotion score, lameness and sole bruising in first lactation Holstein Friesian dairy cattle. Heifers (n 34) were divided into two groups according to calving date, breeding value (milk fat and protein yield), live weight, body condition and post-partummilk yield and offered a mixed forage diet of grass, maize and whole crop silage, 17 were offered the mixed diet withthe addition of live yeast (Y), 17 were offered the same mixed forage diet with no additional live yeast (NY). All animals were assessed weekly for milk yield and composition, locomotion score up until 160 days in milk (DIM). Mean milk yield (Y: 29.5, NY: 27.1) and milk solids (Y: 1.98, NY: 1.80 (kg/h/d) were significantly higher with the addition of yeast (P<0.001). Sole lesion score increased significantly at day 160 (50 DIM: 1241 b, 100 DIM: 1295 b, 150 DIM: 1676 a) and of the WL at day 100 pp (50 DIM: 1042 b, 100 DIM: 1448 a, 150 DIM: 1710 a) (P<0.001). The hind outer (HO) claws had significantly higher lesion scoresthan inner claws (sole outer: 340.2, others 149.4 to 184.2; White line Outer: 267.5, others: 168.4 to 228.9) (P<0.001). Heifers offered forage diets with the addition of yeast had significantly lower sole (Y: 1151.5 b, NY: 1645.3 a)(P<0.05) and WL lesions at 160 DIM. The addition of live yeast increased milk yield and reduced lesion and locomotion score in first lactation heifers.}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Lethbridge LA and Margerison JK and Parfitt D} } @conference {41999, title = {The mechanical properties and lesion score of the sole and white line horn of front and hind claws of heifers prior to and during first lactation}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, volume = {67}, year = {2007}, month = {Jan}, pages = {307-311}, publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production}, address = {Wanaka}, abstract = {The aim of this experiment was to study the incidence of lameness and the pattern of lesion formation in the sole horn during the pre- and post-partum period of first lactation Holstein Friesian heifers and to compare these to mechanical testing of the hoof horn strength and with the breed society (Holstein Friesian) index of classification for conformation (HUKI) to compare heifers susceptibility to lameness. Samples of sole hoof horn were taken from all claws of 20 heifers at 144 and 40 days pre-partum and 50, 100 and 150 days post-partum. Simultaneously, all claws were assessed for the lesion score in the sole horn. Locomotion score was assessed weekly and heifers were conformation scored for the Holstein UK Index (HUKI). Hoof samples were analysed for elastic modulus and punch resistance. Punch resistance of the sole horn was significantly greater in front claws when compared to hind claws. The punch resistance, elastic modulus, lesion score and locomotion score increased significantly during the post-partum compared with the prepartum period. post-partum elastic modulus and punch resistance were significantly negatively correlated to increase in lesion score and locomotion score between measurement periods and positively correlated to the breed society conformation index (HUKI) score for legs and feet. Mechanical tests reflected the changes in housing and in haemorrhage levels that occurred between 144, 40 pre- and 100 days post-partum and there may be a potential to select animals for increased hoofhorn quality and reduce wearrates during lactation.}, issn = {1176-5283}, author = {Winkler B and Margerison JK} }