Associations between housing-and management factors and cow mortality in Swedish dairy farms

Sammanfattning

On-farm mortality, meaning cows being euthanised or dying unassisted, is increasing in Sweden. Cows which die in this manner are not eligible to enter the food system, causing an estimated 17% of all cows that die in Sweden every year to be sent for destruction, a notably unsustainable practice. Numerous studies have been made on potential variables effecting mortality, but research specifically regarding the effects of housing-and management practices on mortality are scarce. Mortality rates of Swedish farms vary, and in this study, housing and management practices of 19 Swedish farms, 10 with low mortality and 9 with high, were evaluated through a combination of questionnaires and on-farm welfare evaluations. By investigating overcrowding, routines, practices and general information from the farmers in combination with welfare evaluations, the aim was to examine if any of the factors differed between farms with contrasting mortality rates. Overall, the low mortality farms had a larger number of welfare violations, but the severity of the violations were higher on the high mortality farms. High mortality farms were more overcrowded and suffered from inadequate routines and monitoring of calving, sick and lame cows. The high mortality farms additionally had less strict biosecurity measures. Potential bias is a risk with small study populations and questionnaire-based studies. To further validate the findings of this study and reduce the risks of potential bias, future research should feature larger study populations combined with refined methods.