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- Author or Editor: Jeffrey K. Reneau x
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Abstract
Objective—To determine a method for comparing counts of Streptococcus uberis in sand and sawdust and account for the influence of weight or volume of the bedding material.
Sample Population—2 sources of kiln-dried sawdust and 2 sources of washed sand.
Procedures—Sterilized bedding material (100 ml) was weighed and uniformly distributed in an aluminum pan. Each sterilized bedding material was inoculated with a mean of 3.6 × 106 (experiment 1) or 2.4 × 107 (experiment 2) colony-forming units (CFU) of S uberis/ml of bedding material. Without allowing time for replication of S uberis, inoculated bedding materials were washed with sterile saline (0.9% NaCl) solution. A 200-ml aliquot of wash solution was serially diluted up to 2,500 times with additional saline solution and inoculated on plates containing tryptose agar with 5% sheep blood. After incubation for 48 hours, number of CFU of S uberis was counted. This procedure was replicated 19 and 16 times for each bedding material in experiments 1 and 2, respectively.
Results—Evaluation of Bonferroni 95% confidence intervals revealed significant differences for counts of S uberis calculated on a weight basis between sand and sawdust.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Comparison of counts of S uberis determined on a volume basis for sand and sawdust accentuates to a lesser degree the weight difference of the bedding materials and ensures a more appropriate comparison of number of S uberis. (Am J Vet Res 2001; 62:171–173)
Abstract
Objective—To develop a simple system for scoring hygiene in dairy cattle and determine whether hygiene scores were associated with individual cow somatic cell scores (SCSs).
Design—Observational study.
Animals—1,191 cows.
Procedure—With the aid of a chart containing line drawings and descriptive text, hygiene scores ranging from 1 (clean) to 5 (dirty) were assigned for 5 body areas: tail head, thigh (lateral aspect), abdomen (ventral aspect), udder, and hind limbs (lower portion). To determine repeatability, hygiene scores were assigned to 75 cows twice by 4 experienced evaluators. To determine accuracy and ease of use, hygiene scores assigned by 14 college students to 23 cows were compared with scores assigned by 2 faculty members. To determine association with SCSs, hygiene scores were assigned to each of 1,093 cows by a single observer.
Results—Mean correlation coefficients for hygiene scores assigned twice by 4 experienced evaluators were ≥ 0.884, indicating high repeatability. Students indicated that the scoring system was easy to use, and mean correlation coefficient for student and faculty member scores was 0.804. Hygiene scores for the tail head, thigh (lateral aspect), and abdomen (ventral aspect) were not significantly associated with SCS. However, hygiene scores for the udder and hind limbs (lower portion) and udder–hind limb composite scores were significantly associated with SCS, with SCS increasing as scores increased.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that the hygiene scoring system was repeatable, accurate, and easy to use. However, only hygiene scores for the udder and hind limbs and the udder–hind limb composite score were significantly associated with SCS. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2005;227:1297–1301)
