Abstract
The objective of the study was twofold: (i) to quantify the differences in daily milk yield (DMY) and
total milk yield (TMY) between lame and non-lame dairy ewes and (ii) to determine the shape of lactation
curves around the lameness incident. The overall study was a prospective study of lameness
for the surveyed sheep population, with a nested study including the selection of matching controls
for each lame ewe separately. Two intensively reared flocks of purebred Chios ewes and a total of
283 ewes were used. Data, including gait assessment and DMY records, were collected on a weekly
basis during on-farm visits across the milking period. A general linear model was developed
for the calculation of lactation curves of lame and non-lame ewes, whereas one-way ANOVA
was used for the comparisons between lame ewes and their controls. Lameness incidence was
12·4 and 16·8% on Farms A and B, respectively. Average DMY in lame ewes was significantly
lower (213·8 g, P < 0·001) compared with the rest of the flock, where DMY averaged 1·340 g.
The highest DMY reduction in lame ewes was observed during the week 16 of the milking period
(P < 0·001), whereas the reduction of DMY, for lame ewes, remained significant at P < 0·001 level
from week 8 to week 28 of milking. Comparisons between lame and controls revealed that at the
week of lameness diagnosis a significant DMY reduction (P ≤ 0·001) was observed in lame ewes
(about 32·5%), which was maximised 1 week later (35·8%, P ≤ 0·001) and continued for several
weeks after recovery, resulting in 19·3% lower TMY for lame ewes for the first 210 d of the
milking period (P < 0·01). Moreover, at flock level, TMY for non-lame and lame ewes, as calculated
by the general linear model, was 318·9 and 268·0 kg, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate
evidence of significant financial losses in dairy sheep due to lameness which, however, need
to be accurately estimated in further, more detailed, analyses.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 193 - 199 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Dairy Research |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | First published - 4 Feb 2015 |
Bibliographical note
1023517Keywords
- Dairy sheep
- Lactation curves
- Lameness
- Milk yield