Health Treatment Cost of Holsteins in Eight High-Performance Herds

Health treatments of Holstein cows (n = 2214) were recorded by the owners of eight high-performance dairy herds in Minnesota. Cows calved from March 2008 to October 2015, and 14 types of health treatments were uniformly defined across the herds. Specific types of health treatment were subsequently assigned a cost based on the mean veterinary cost obtained from the veterinary clinics that serviced the eight herds. A fixed labor cost for time (USD 18/h) associated with specific types of health treatment was determined based on interviews with the herd owners and was added to the veterinary cost. Health treatment cost was then partitioned into five health categories: mastitis (including mastitis diagnostic test), reproduction (cystic ovary, retained placenta, and metritis), lameness (hoof treatments), metabolic (milk fever, displaced abomasum, ketosis, and digestive), and miscellaneous (respiratory, injury, and other). Lactations of cows were divided into six intervals that corresponded with stage of lactation based on days in milk. The first interval of lactation was 30 days in length, followed by four intervals of 60 days each, and the final interval started on day 271 and had variable length because it continued to the end of lactation and included the dry period. Health treatment cost was summed within each interval of lactation and subsequently across lactations by parity. Statistical analysis by parity included the fixed effects of herd, interval, and the interaction of herd and interval, with interval regarded as a repeated measure of cows. Health treatment cost was highest during the first interval for all five parities of cows and ranged from USD 22.87 for first parity to USD 38.50 for fifth parity. Reproduction treatment cost was about one-half of the total health treatment cost during the first interval in all five parities. Metabolic treatment cost during the first interval ranged from USD 3.92 (in first parity) to USD 12.34 (in third parity). Compared to the other health categories, mastitis treatment cost was most evenly distributed across intervals of lactation in all parities. Lameness treatment cost was highest during mid- or late-lactation across parities and reflected the time when cows received routine hoof trimming. Additionally, treatment cost across health categories was summed across intervals of lactation for each cow, and the total health cost of cows varied substantially from herd to herd and ranged from USD 23.38 to USD 74.60 for first parity and usually increased with parity.