Udder health is the most common problem in Swiss dairy production. Prevention concepts are not practiced. Particularly, udder health of heifers is the basis of satisfying herd udder health. Management for health promotion in heifers is not adequately emphasized.
The presented project will evaluate the status quo of heifer udder health in Switzerland. Dairy herd improvement (DHI) data provided by the breeding organizations will give information about monthly somatic cell count (scc) and, thus, the prevalence of heifers showing elevated scc values (>100 000/ml). A set of 30 farms with very low prevalence and 30 farms with high prevalence will be identified for further investigation by analysing a representative number of farm data provided by the breeding organizations.
Within this investigation, farm- and herd-based data will be recorded. Furthermore, animal-based findings, including milk samples after parturition, will complete the dataset. This will lead to improved multivariate models describing risk factors for decreased heifer udder health.
Bundesamt für Veterinärwesen
Project leader
