All Outputs (130)

Predictive modelling of deviation from expected milk yield in transition cows on automatic milking systems (2024)
Journal Article

The transition period is a pivotal time in the production cycle of the dairy cow. It is estimated that between 30% and 50% of all cows experience metabolic or infectious disease during this time. One of the most common and economically consequential... Read More about Predictive modelling of deviation from expected milk yield in transition cows on automatic milking systems.

Quantification of the effect of in-utero events on lifetime resilience in dairy cows (2024)
Journal Article

Currently, the dairy industry is facing many challenges that could affect its sustainability, including climate change and public perception of the industry. As a result, interest is increasing in the concept of identifying resilient animals, those w... Read More about Quantification of the effect of in-utero events on lifetime resilience in dairy cows.

Novel enrichment reduces boredom-associated behaviours in housed dairy cows (2024)
Journal Article

There is currently societal interest and concern for dairy cow welfare. It has been suggested that boredom poses a welfare issue for dairy cows, particularly when presented with extended disposable time in housed environments that lack stimuli. Farm... Read More about Novel enrichment reduces boredom-associated behaviours in housed dairy cows.

Improvement of mammary gland health in 81 'sentinel herds' in England and Scotland between 2012 and 2021. (2023)
Journal Article

Background: Achieving a reduction in mastitis in dairy cows is a common industry goal, but there is no recent peer-reviewed record of progress in the UK. Methods: A convenience sample of 125 herds in England and Scotland was recruited based on the qu... Read More about Improvement of mammary gland health in 81 'sentinel herds' in England and Scotland between 2012 and 2021..

Incorporating heterogeneity in farmer disease control behaviour into a livestock disease transmission model (2023)
Journal Article

Human behaviour is critical to effective responses to livestock disease outbreaks, especially with respect to vaccination uptake. Traditionally, mathematical models used to inform this behaviour have not taken heterogeneity in farmer behaviour into a... Read More about Incorporating heterogeneity in farmer disease control behaviour into a livestock disease transmission model.

Unravelling transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis to dairy calves: results of a lifelong longitudinal study (2023)
Journal Article

Johne's disease (JD) is a chronic disease of ruminants endemic in the UK and other countries and responsible for large economic losses for the dairy sector. JD is caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), which typically infect... Read More about Unravelling transmission of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis to dairy calves: results of a lifelong longitudinal study.

Predicting lameness in dairy cattle using untargeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and machine learning (2023)
Journal Article

Lameness in dairy cattle is a highly prevalent condition that impacts on the health and welfare of dairy cows. Prompt detection and implementation of effective treatment is important for managing lameness. However, major limitations are associated wi... Read More about Predicting lameness in dairy cattle using untargeted liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and machine learning.

An observational study of ear-tagged calf mortality (1 to 100 days) on Irish dairy farms and associations between biosecurity practices and calf mortality on farms participating in a Johne's disease control program (2023)
Journal Article

Postnatal mortality among replacement stock has a detrimental effect on the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of dairy production. Calf mortality rates vary between countries and show differences in temporal trends; most, however, ar... Read More about An observational study of ear-tagged calf mortality (1 to 100 days) on Irish dairy farms and associations between biosecurity practices and calf mortality on farms participating in a Johne's disease control program.

A multistate modeling approach to investigate long-term effects of claw horn disruption lesions and early lesion development in dairy cows (2023)
Journal Article

Claw horn disruption lesions (CHDL) are a leading cause of lameness in dairy cattle, and the development, effect, and pathology of these lesions remains an open area of interest within dairy cattle health. Current literature typically attempts to mea... Read More about A multistate modeling approach to investigate long-term effects of claw horn disruption lesions and early lesion development in dairy cows.

Use of qualitative behavioural assessment to investigate affective states of housed dairy cows under different environmental conditions (2023)
Journal Article

In addition to the reduction of suboptimal welfare, there is now a need to provide farmed animals with positive opportunities to provide confidence that they have experienced a life worth living. Diversification of the environment through environment... Read More about Use of qualitative behavioural assessment to investigate affective states of housed dairy cows under different environmental conditions.

Serum 1H nuclear magnetic resonance–based metabolomics of sole lesion development in Holstein cows (2023)
Journal Article

Sole hemorrhage and sole ulcers, referred to as sole lesions, are important causes of lameness in dairy cattle. We aimed to compare the serum metabolome of dairy cows that developed sole lesions in early lactation with that of cows that remained unaf... Read More about Serum 1H nuclear magnetic resonance–based metabolomics of sole lesion development in Holstein cows.

Fellow cows and conflicting farmers: Public perceptions of dairy farming uncovered through frame analysis (2022)
Journal Article

Divergence in opinion over how farm animals should be cared for is creating a disconnect between livestock farming and the public that risks a loss of “social license” to farm. One proposed solution for the dairy farming community is to engage more c... Read More about Fellow cows and conflicting farmers: Public perceptions of dairy farming uncovered through frame analysis.

Metabolic alterations in dairy cattle with lameness revealed by untargeted metabolomics of dried milk spots using direct infusion-tandem mass spectrometry and the triangulation of multiple machine learning models (2022)
Journal Article

Lameness is a major challenge in the dairy cattle industry in terms of animal welfare and economic implications. Better understanding of metabolic alteration associated with lameness could lead to early diagnosis and effective treatment{,} there-fore... Read More about Metabolic alterations in dairy cattle with lameness revealed by untargeted metabolomics of dried milk spots using direct infusion-tandem mass spectrometry and the triangulation of multiple machine learning models.

Effect of tuberculin skin testing on serological results against Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP): Evidence of distinct effects in MAP-infected and noninfected cows (2022)
Journal Article

Johne's disease and bovine tuberculosis are diseases of economic, public health, and animal welfare importance. The single intradermal cervical comparative tuberculin (SICCT) test, which is used to determine bovine tuberculosis status as part of erad... Read More about Effect of tuberculin skin testing on serological results against Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP): Evidence of distinct effects in MAP-infected and noninfected cows.

Understanding public preferences for different dairy farming systems using a mixed-methods approach (2022)
Journal Article

Global production of milk has doubled over the past 50 yr, yet dairy farming in high-income countries faces scrutiny over practices perceived to affect animal welfare. One such practice is housing dairy cows year-round without access to pasture, whic... Read More about Understanding public preferences for different dairy farming systems using a mixed-methods approach.

Descriptive analysis of national bovine viral diarrhoea test data in England (2016–2020) (2022)
Journal Article

Background: Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) causes substantial economic losses to the cattle industry; however, control and eradication can be achieved by identifying and removing persistently infected cattle from the herd. Each UK nation has sep... Read More about Descriptive analysis of national bovine viral diarrhoea test data in England (2016–2020).

Modelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour (2022)
Journal Article

The spread of infection amongst livestock depends not only on the traits of the pathogen and the livestock themselves, but also on the veterinary health behaviours of farmers and how this impacts their implementation of disease control measures. Cont... Read More about Modelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour.

Modelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour. (2022)
Journal Article

Background: The spread of infection amongst livestock depends not only on the traits of the pathogen and the livestock themselves, but also on the behavioural characteristics of farmers and how that impacts the implementation of livestock disease con... Read More about Modelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour..

Stability selection for mixed effect models with large numbers of predictor variables: A simulation study (2022)
Journal Article

Covariate selection when the number of available variables is large relative to the number of observations is problematic in epidemiology and remains the focus of continued research. Whilst a variety of statistical methods have been developed to atte... Read More about Stability selection for mixed effect models with large numbers of predictor variables: A simulation study.

Differences in composition of interdigital skin microbiota predict sheep and feet that develop footrot (2022)
Journal Article

Footrot has a major impact on health and productivity of sheep worldwide. The current paradigm for footrot pathogenesis is that physical damage to the interdigital skin (IDS) facilitates invasion of the essential pathogen Dichelobacter nodosus. The c... Read More about Differences in composition of interdigital skin microbiota predict sheep and feet that develop footrot.