Die chronologische Liste zeigt aktuelle Veröffentlichungen aus dem Forschungsbetrieb der Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf. Zuständig ist das Zentrum für Forschung und Wissenstransfer (ZFW).
ObjectivesTail injuries and pathological alterations have been reported in many species. In cattle, they were investigatedmainly in fattening bulls and feedlot cattle. In dairy cows high prevalences for different tail alterations werefound. However, aetiology and pathogenesis of this health trait are still unclear and need further investigation.Out of 4443 phenotypes of different tail alterations we assorted seven groups common in dairy cows: 1. verytip of the tail , 2. ring-like, 3. scurf, 4. swelling, 5. thinning, 6. axis anomaly, and 7. verruca-like mass. Theobjective of this study was to identify genomic regions that may influence the occurrence of different tailalterations in dairy cows, which could be useful for a potential implementation of a genomic selection tool formore robust and healthy cows in the future.Material and methodsData collection started in December 2019 from a German 75 German Holstein (HOL) cows dairy herd. All cows wereexamined every two weeks during six months regarding any kind of tail alterations. The findings were described andphotographed. Data analysis resulted in seven different kinds of tail alterations: 1. very tip of the tail, 2. ring-like, 3. scurf,4. swelling, 5. thinning, 6. axis anomalies, and 7. verruca-like mass.Hereinafter, prevalences for the observed tail alterations were calculated based on monthly data collection from fivedifferent dairy herds: 3 HOL herds, counting average herd sizes of 75, 300, and 1300, respectively; 2 German Fleckvieh(FV) herds, counting 60 cows, each. All cows were housed in free stall barns with conventional (HOL, FV) or automaticmilking systems (FV).In total, 4443 Dairy Cows' Tail Scores were recorded. Data preparation and analysis were performed using R version4.1.2. Prevalences for tail alterations were calculated by dividing the number of observations within by the total number ofobservations of each kind of tail alteration and was given in percent. For calculating the total prevalence per breed andfarm, the occurrence of at least one tail alteration counted as an observation, was divided by the total number of cowsunder investigation and given in percent.ResultsThe overall prevalence for any kind of tail alteration was 88% in German Holstein and 99% in Fleckvieh cows; it variedbetween farms from 74% to 99%. Prevalences for HOL and FV regarding alterations of the very tip of the tail were 26%and 71%, ring-like alterations 24% and 30%, swelling 26% and 42%, scurf 55% and 60%, thinning combined with axisanomalies 16% and 21%, and verruca-like mass 10% and 21%, respectively. Number per tail ranged for ring-likealterations and thinning/axis anomalies from 1 to 5 and for verruca-like mass from 1 to 3.ConclusionsDuring this study, high prevalences for different tail alterations in HOL and FV dairy cows were found out. The grouping ofdifferent alterations as described above can be useful to phenotype tail alterations in dairy cows. However, furtherinvestigations regarding pathogenesis, aetiology, and genetics of the observed alterations in dairy cows' tails are neededto understand their origin and impact on animal health and welfare.FundingThis research was funded by the Tönnies Forschung, Rheda, Germany.
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Luisa Siegert,
M. R. Piqué-Borràs,
Sebastian Schmelzer,
Dr. Johann Röhrl,
Prof. Dr. Lydia Nausch
Prof. Dr. Peter Breunig,
Steffen Kümmerer,
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Bauer,
M.Sc. Kevin Braun,
B.Eng. Andreas Fleischmann,
Tobias Meyer,
Prof. Dr. Patrick Noack,
M.Sc. Muhammad Saeed
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