Collaborative project: Health monitoring in early life as basis of sustainable improvement of animal health in dairy farms - subproject 2 | FISA - Forschungsinformationssystem Agrar und Ernährung

Collaborative project: Health monitoring in early life as basis of sustainable improvement of animal health in dairy farms - subproject 2

Project

Production processes

This project contributes to the research aim 'Production processes'. Which funding institutions are active for this aim? What are the sub-aims? Take a look:
Production processes

Project code: 28RZ372025
Contract period: 05.11.2014 - 31.03.2018
Budget: 101,995 Euro
Purpose of research: Experimental development

Health in early life is extremely important for body development, individual constitution and lifetime performance. Therefore, optimization of animal health with focus on calves and heifers enables the dairy farms to take foresighted measures for improved health and longevity cows. This implies milk yields according to their genetic performance potential and substantial contribution to efficient and sustainable milk production. The aim of the project YHealth is to develop a future-oriented concept for health monitoring in dairy cattle which is based on systematization of health data recording for calves. By better addressing the health of the young, remarkable benefits can be expected for improving the overall animal health status in dairy farms. GKUHplus is generating the basis for substantial improvement of the available health monitoring systems, such that dairy keeping and breeding can take efficient measures to sustainably strengthen animal health and welfare in the future. The central key for health data recording in dairy cattle, representing the nationally and internationally recognized standard, is available as basis of systematic recording of diagnoses, findings and health-oriented measures. This harmonized recording includes specific information on prophylaxes and diseases that also or exclusively refer to calves and heifers. The herd management software used in the pilot farms allows the standardized health data recording for all animals and ensures usability of the data for central analyses across farms. Routines for health data recording are already implemented in the dairy farms involved in the project. However, the focus of documentation is on current health events in the dairy cows, so practically feasible extension and optimization of the health monitoring is one of the major issues of the YHealth project. Routine reporting of health events in calves will allow reasonable adjustments of plausibility checks, data processing and analyses which involve linking with herd data as well as base and performance data of individual animals. Among the statistical analyses, multiple trait genetic analyses with nationwide available data play an important role, because these validations will deliver insight into the potential of innovative use of routine data.

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