Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 40
1
MR. MORRIS: Yes. Can they turn round in the holding cubicles?
2 A. No, they have to reverse out.
3 Q. Just in the general diseases which may be more prevalent
amongst dairy cattle, does the problem get worse the more
4 milk the cow is expected to produce?
A. Which general diseases are you thinking of? Can you
5 help me a little bit?
6 Q. This lameness; obviously mastitis must be influenced by
that?
7 A. It is generally held that there can be an association
between enhanced milk yield and mastitis, yes, but it is
8 not the sole cause of mastitis.
9 Q. Does that apply to lameness?
A. There are situations where it may occur. It would not
10 be the only, or sorry, it would not be the principal
association. I will give you one example where it can
11 occur. When the cow has recently calfed or is just about
to calf, the farmer usually provides the cow with a large
12 supplement of concentrates. That is in order to enhance
milk yield. If the cow is not adapted to that sudden
13 change in nutrition, she can develop rumen acidosis and
this will alter the micro flora in the gut. An endotoxin
14 can be produced which will help to precipitate laminitis
which is one of the principal causes of lameness in dairy
15 cattle. That is one example of how lameness can be
associated with high production by virtue of feeding. It
16 is not the only cause of lameness.
17 Q. Would it be fair to say that the milk yield of cows is
generally double what it was 30 years ago per cow?
18 A. I am not familiar with those figures.
19 Q. It would have gone up, though, certainly?
A. Milk yield is rising every year as a general trend,
20 yes -- per cow, that is.
21 Q. Yes. It has risen quite considerably?
A. Since the second world war it has risen considerably,
22 yes.
23 Q. Just a brief thing about mutilations: Disbudding, hot
iron disbudding, could you say something very briefly
24 about that?
A. That is practised in calves where a quarter is applied
25 under anaesthesia to the horn buds to prevent the animal
from growing horns.
26
Q. Does that have any distress implications?
27 A. If the animal -----
28 Q. During and after that?
A. If the local anaesthetic is ineffective it would cause
29 pain.
30 Q. And later on?
A. Since one has quarterised the nerves, provided there
