Proposed dairy calf birth certificate data and death loss categorization scheme

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Animal Science
• Agricultural Management

Background:

• High mortality rates in dairy calves (stillbirths and preweaning deaths) impact herd replacement and farm profitability.
• Common causes include stillbirths, adaptation failure, and infectious diseases like scours and respiratory illness.
• Current record-keeping often lacks detail, hindering accurate cause-of-death attribution and prevention strategy development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To recommend standardized data collection protocols for dairy calf birth and death events.
• To propose a refined death loss categorization scheme for improved on-farm record systems.
• To enable better evaluation of calf risk factors and their association with mortality.

Main Methods:

• Review of current dairy calf mortality issues and data recording practices.
• Development of recommendations for 'calf birth certificate' data points.
• Proposal of a detailed death loss categorization scheme.
• Guidance on additional data collection at the time of death.

Main Results:

• Standardized birth data (e.g., calf birth certificate data) can track trends in calf morbidity and mortality.
• A refined death loss categorization scheme improves cause-of-death attribution, even without necropsy.
• Collecting comprehensive birth and death data allows for better risk factor analysis.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced data collection at birth and death is crucial for understanding and reducing dairy calf mortality.
• Implementation of proposed data recording and categorization can improve herd management and calf survival.
• Collaboration between producers and veterinarians is key to leveraging this data for improved calf health outcomes.