Suchergebnisse

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP), is widely spread among ruminants worldwide. After a long-lasting incubation period, infected animals suffer from chronic granulomatous enteritis. Economic losses are caused by premature culling, reduced milk yield and slaughter value in the dairy and beef industry, triggering attempts to control the disease. Paratuberculosis is a listed disease (category E), according to the European Animal Health Law, and intended to be monitored within the European Union. Evaluation of several herd-level monitoring approaches including the testing of environmental fecal samples to detect the infectious agent have been evaluated, proving environmental sampling to be a useful monitoring tool on herd level. This study comprises the application of environmental sampling within a herd prevalence estimation study in German dairy herds. Based on regional differences in the structure of livestock farming, Germany was divided into three regions where a representative number of farms were visited for sample collection. The results clearly indicate a different regional MAP herd level prevalence. The highest percentage of affected herds is found in the eastern part with large dairy herds, and the lowest in the south with the smallest average herd size. We conclude that the regional differences in MAP prevalence imply different approaches to control the disease. ABSTRACT: On-farm environmental sampling is an effective method for herd-level diagnosis of Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection and between-herd prevalence estimation. So far, no prevalence study enrolling important livestock-farming regions has been conducted. As the structure of dairy farming differs between main livestock-farming regions in Germany, our objective was to assess the between-herd prevalence of paratuberculosis for these regions in a standardized approach. Methods: In total, 457 randomly selected dairy farms from three regions of Germany (North: 183, ...

Das EU-weite Verbot von konventioneller Käfighaltung hatte weitreichende Konsequenzen für das Tierwohl und die Wirtschaftsleistung in der Eiproduktion. Das Ziel dieser Studie war es, die Haupteinflüsse auf den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg in Betrieben mit Volieren- oder Kleingruppensystemen zu identifizieren. Die Ergebnisse bestätigten den Einfluss von Produktivitätskriterien (z. B. Futterverwertung) auf den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg, wogegen die Betriebsgröße nur bei der Kleingruppenhaltung eine Rolle spielte. Abhängig vom Haltungssystem bedingen Managemententscheidungen (z. B. tägliche Inspektionszeit, selbstgemischtes Futter) einen relevanten Teil des ökonomischen Erfolgs. Ebenso kann die Erfahrung des Landwirts mit dem Haltungssystem einen Einfluss haben. Positive Effekte durch den Verkauf von sortierten Eiern gegenüber Bulk-Ware zeigten die Relevanz von verschiedenen Absatzmärkten für den ökonomischen Erfolg. Alternativ zum Vertrieb im Einzelhandel könnte die Kleingruppenhaltung davon profitieren, die Eier direkt zu vermarkten. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie lassen erkennen, dass Entscheidungen der Politik, des Einzelhandels und der Verbraucher den ökonomischen Erfolg der Eiproduktion beeinflussen. ; The European Union ban on conventional battery cages had far-reaching consequences for animal welfare and the economic success of egg production. The aim of this study was to identify the main influences on economic success of farms keeping laying hens in aviaries or small-group housing systems. The results confirmed the importance of productivity measures (i.e. conversion rate), whereas farm size was of consequence for small-group housing systems, only. Dependent on the housing system, management decisions (i.e. daily inspection time, feeding of self-mixed feed) accounted for a considerable part of economic effectiveness. Furthermore, the number of years of experience of the farmer with the housing system seemed to influence economic productivity. Positive effects of selling graded eggs (instead of bulk-ware) showed the relevance of market outlets on economic profitability. The study indicated that smallgroup housing systems might profit from selling their products directly to the consumer. The results show that decisions of politics and the retail sector as well as consumer choices have an influential effect on the economic success of egg production.