Potentials and limitations of systematic clinical examinations in farmer-veterinarian collaboration for improved udder health in the new Danish herd health program

Abstract

In November 2006 a new herd health program (NHHP) was introduced in Denmark. Important elements of NHHP are weekly farm visits by the veterinarian, systematic clinical examinations (SCEs) of freshly calved cows and cows at drying off, and the authorization of farmers to initiate mastitis and other treatments. Our aim was to evaluate the application and implementation of SCE in the herds using quantitative data analysis and qualitative semi-structured interviews with 13 farmers and their veterinarians. Data from these farms with NHHP including SCEs with the mandatory variables CMT, metritis score, vaginal score, udder score, body condition score and general condition were available. The quantitative analysis showed a large variation in data quality and application of some score values especially for udder score. This was confirmed in qualitative interviews. The farmers’ and veterinarians’ attitude towards SCEs varied greatly and influenced data quality and implementation in the herd. The frequent contact between farmer and veterinarian was perceived as beneficial in itself, the SCE helped to focus the dialogue and basis for short-term decisions. Long-term planning and monitoring of udder health using SCE was limited and revealed further demands to the veterinarian for competencies in data handling, analysis and interpretation. In conclusion, SCE are perceived as beneficial tools in udder health management. Distinct knowledge of the farmers’ and veterinarians’ application and attitudes towards SCE is necessary to explain the variation in the data and increase data validity.