Verbesserung der Euter- und Stoffwechselgesundheit in der ökologischen Milchviehhaltung durch interdisziplinär entwickelte betriebsindividuelle Interventionsmaßnahmen Interventionsstudie in Deutschland

Summary

A nationwide interdisciplinary intervention study in 106 German organic dairy farms was carried out in order to develop preventive animal health management strategies for mastitis and metabolic disorders and to implement and validate this concept. After an initial farm visit focusing on the health situation and the potential risk factors includ-ing housing, herd management, feeding and forage production, individual evidence-based advice was provided by the project team. Intervention measures to improve herd health were implemented and their effectiveness was monitored for two years. Udder health regarding milk somatic cell count and treatment incidence for mastitis improved significantly, whereas the percentage of dry-off-treatments with antibiotics and internal teat-sealers increased significantly. Considering indicators of metabolic health, there was an improvement in treatment incidence of milk fever and ketosis, but the percentage of cows with a fat-protein-ratio above 1.5 in the first 100 days in milk -as indication of subclinical ketosis- did not change.