N. van Staaveren, E. Hyland, K. Houlahan, C. Lynch, F. Miglior, D. Kelton, F. Schenkel, C. Baes
{"title":"Recording of calf diseases for potential use in breeding programs: a case study on calf respiratory illness and diarrhea","authors":"N. van Staaveren, E. Hyland, K. Houlahan, C. Lynch, F. Miglior, D. Kelton, F. Schenkel, C. Baes","doi":"10.1139/cjas-2022-0112","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Calf diseases remain a challenge for dairy producers from both an economic and welfare perspective. Genetically selecting for disease resistance in calves is a promising approach that could contribute to sustainable dairy farming. Genetic evaluations, however, require well-defined and consistently recorded phenotypes to be successful. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the current state of calf disease recording on Ontario farms. Calf disease records of respiratory illness and diarrhea were available from the national milk recording organization (Lactanet Canada, Guelph, Ontario, Canada) from 2009 to 2020. A case study was conducted to describe calf disease diagnoses and recording practices by surveying a subset of 13 Ontario dairy producers. The percentage of milk recorded farms that recorded calf respiratory illness and calf diarrhea increased from 2.6% in 2009 to 11.1% in 2020. Potential sources of data loss were identified along the information chain from farm to genetic evaluation database. Clear definitions and thresholds to diagnose calf disease, standard operating procedures for data recording, as well as a data transfer pipeline, which includes exchange formats, are needed to facilitate the inclusion of calf health traits in genetic evaluations.","PeriodicalId":9512,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Canadian Journal of Animal Science","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1139/cjas-2022-0112","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract Calf diseases remain a challenge for dairy producers from both an economic and welfare perspective. Genetically selecting for disease resistance in calves is a promising approach that could contribute to sustainable dairy farming. Genetic evaluations, however, require well-defined and consistently recorded phenotypes to be successful. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the current state of calf disease recording on Ontario farms. Calf disease records of respiratory illness and diarrhea were available from the national milk recording organization (Lactanet Canada, Guelph, Ontario, Canada) from 2009 to 2020. A case study was conducted to describe calf disease diagnoses and recording practices by surveying a subset of 13 Ontario dairy producers. The percentage of milk recorded farms that recorded calf respiratory illness and calf diarrhea increased from 2.6% in 2009 to 11.1% in 2020. Potential sources of data loss were identified along the information chain from farm to genetic evaluation database. Clear definitions and thresholds to diagnose calf disease, standard operating procedures for data recording, as well as a data transfer pipeline, which includes exchange formats, are needed to facilitate the inclusion of calf health traits in genetic evaluations.
期刊介绍:
Published since 1957, this quarterly journal contains new research on all aspects of animal agriculture and animal products, including breeding and genetics; cellular and molecular biology; growth and development; meat science; modelling animal systems; physiology and endocrinology; ruminant nutrition; non-ruminant nutrition; and welfare, behaviour, and management. It also publishes reviews, letters to the editor, abstracts of technical papers presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Animal Science, and occasionally conference proceedings.