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Hot iron disbudding of calves is a stressful and painful procedure. Previous parts of an ongoing comprehensive study on disbudding in dairy calves dealt with various types of pain management and the direct effects of the procedure on physiological, biochemical and behavioral processes. The goal of this study part was to investigate the effects of the disbudding procedure per se, pain management and the age of the calf at the time of disbudding on the health status of the calf.

A total of 337 German Holstein heifer calves were used for this prospective, randomized and triple-blinded study. The calves were disbudded at 4-10 days or at 15-28 days of age. Each calf was randomly assigned to one of 9 treatment groups, which differed with respect to pain management (sedation, local anesthesia, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, placebo). All but the sham-disbudded calves underwent hot iron disbudding and all calves were monitored clinically before and until 4 weeks after the procedure. The findings were analyzhe present study underlines the importance of optimal pain management during disbudding of dairy calves.

Lying synchronization is an important characteristic of the natural behavior in cattle. The guideline for the housing of fattening cattle published in 2018 in Lower Saxony, Germany, requests for the first time that the lying area should be large enough to enable all animals to lie down simultaneously. However, up to now, lying synchrony in fattening cattle has only been scientifically analyzed to a small extent and detailed data on lying space requirements of fattening bulls are lacking altogether. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the lying synchronization level in fattening bulls housed at different space allowances as well as at examining whether simultaneous lying of all animals per pen occurs.

For this purpose, the lying behavior of 41 fattening bulls weighing more than 450 kg was analyzed. The cattle were housed in groups of 6-8 animals in slatted pens with rubber mats covering the slats either completely or in the back part of the pen. The pens were divided into 3 space allowance groups (A 3empts appear to be restricted by limited lying area size. The presented results emphasize the necessity of further studies regarding the space requirements of fattening cattle for lying in order to define the space allowance required for simultaneous lying of all animals.

At in practice commonly provided space allowances between 3.1 m2 and 4.2 m2 , simultaneous lying of all animals per pen did not occur in a subset of pens. Time periods with all but 1 or 2 animals lying or animals lying down directly after another individual regained standing position indicate the attempt of the group’s individuals to synchronize their lying behavior. However, these attempts appear to be restricted by limited lying area size. The presented results emphasize the necessity of further studies regarding the space requirements of fattening cattle for lying in order to define the space allowance required for simultaneous lying of all animals.

Claw health and carpal and tarsal lesions were assessed in a dairy herd during the transition from a tie-stall to a free-stall barn. The stress associated with the change in housing was also evaluated.

The initial size of the herd was 57 dairy cows, which were evaluated 4 times, 4-5 months apart, in a hoof-trimming chute. Claw horn and skin lesions of the foot were considered separately. The carpi and hocks were assessed for hair loss and skin lesions, and the hocks were also evaluated for swelling. Tail hair samples were collected from all cows during the second visit, and the cortisol concentration of 3 different sections of the hair was measured.

The high prevalence of digital dermatitis and other skin lesions in the hind legs seen in the tie-stall barn (49 %) did not change significantly during the 14-month study period and was 46 % at the last visit. Heel horn erosions of the hind feet were rare in the tie-stall barn (14 %), but had a prevalence of 100 % at the end of the study. D-Lin-MC3-DMA There was a trend fns. The significant increase in the prevalence of heel horn erosions indicates that the horn capsule is compromised under free-stall conditions.

The results of the present report cannot be directly applied to other herds; however, the significance of cow comfort is highlighted by the presence of fewer carpal and hock lesions. The significant increase in the prevalence of heel horn erosions indicates that the horn capsule is compromised under free-stall conditions.

The objective of this study was to determine whether changes in cortisol concentration measured in blood serum (KoB) of cows exposed to an acute stressor shows a correlation to cortisol concentrations in saliva (KoS), tears (KoT) and milk (KoM) as well as the concentration of cortisol metabolites in feces (KoK).

In 10 healthy German Holstein cows, sham foot trimming (sKB) including the movement/fixation of the cows through/in a foot trimming chute was used as a model for acute stress. KoB, KoS, KoT, KoM and KoK were measured once a day for 10 days. During sKB, performed on day 4, KoB and KoT were measured at the initiation of foot trimming (minute 0) as well as 15, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 80 minutes later. Additionally, KoK was measured 480, 540, 600 and 660 minutes after the start of sKB.

KoB and KoT increased during sKB and reached a maximum at 60 minutes followed by a decrease. KoK increased after sKB and reached a maximum at 660 minutes. There was a significant correlation between KoB and KoT, KoK ancows may reduce their stress reaction and thus improve animal welfare.

Infection prevention strategies to protect healthcare workers in endoscopy units during the post-peak phase of the COVID-19 pandemic are currently under intense discussion. In this paper, the cost-effectiveness of routine pre-endoscopy testing and high risk personal protective equipment (PPE) is addressed.

A model based on theoretical assumptions of 10 000 asymptomatic patients presenting to a high volume center was created. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) and absolute costs per endoscopy were calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation.

ICER values for universal testing decreased with increasing prevalence rates. For higher prevalence rates (≥ 1 %), ICER values were lowest for routine pre-endoscopy testing coupled with use of high risk PPE, while cost per endoscopy was lowest for routine use of high risk PPE without universal testing.

In general, routine pre-endoscopy testing combined with high risk PPE becomes more cost-effective with rising prevalence rates of COVID-19.

In general, routine pre-endoscopy testing combined with high risk PPE becomes more cost-effective with rising prevalence rates of COVID-19.