Management of digital dermatitis in dairy herds: Optimization and time allocation

Robcis Rodolphe, Ferchiou Ahmed, Berrada Mehdi, Raboisson Didier. 2023. Management of digital dermatitis in dairy herds: Optimization and time allocation. Animals, 13 (12):1988, 20 p.

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13121988

Article de revue ; Article de recherche ; Article de revue à facteur d'impact Revue en libre accès total

Prévisualisation

Version publiée - Anglais
Sous licence

.
610882.pdf
Télécharger (3MB) | Prévisualisation

Résumé : The objective of this study is to determine the most effective time allocation for digital dermatitis management and to quantify the marginal economic gain from extra time devoted to digital dermatitis management. The model simulating foot disease occurrence and the associated management was Dairy Health Simulator©. Then, an econometric model was applied to identify the relationship between the dairy workshop's gross margin and time for lameness management as well as the hourly marginal gain curve associated with lameness management. The gross margin was optimized under two constraints, i.e., the overall time spent for lameness management and the mean lameness duration (mimicking cow welfare). The results show that allocating less time to lameness detection and more to footbath application can contribute as follows: (i) reduces time spent for lameness management, (ii) maintains the best welfare level, and (iii) obtains the highest gross margin. The optimal time to devote to footbath application ranged from 17.8 to 22.3 h/month. A hiring strategy was investigated, and the break-even point ranged from 16.1 to 19.8 h/month. The recommended time to spend on footbath application is relatively important; therefore, stakeholders should consider the importance of lameness to the dairy industry and should devote enough time for footbath applications.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : modèle économétrique, dermatite, modèle de simulation, boitement, industrie laitière, santé animale

Mots-clés libres : Lameness, Cow, Economics, Herd management, Footbath, Animal welfare

Auteurs et affiliations