Qualitative and quantitative monitoring of antibiotics on dairy cattle farms in relation to animal welfare indicators

Figures & data

Table 1. CReNBA checklist for on-farm assessment of dairy cow welfare.

Area A: Farm management and personnel
1	Number of stockpersons
2	Experience and training of stockpersons
3	Animal grouping strategy
4	Inspection of animals
5	Type of handling
6	Milking parlour access and exit
7	Feeding strategy
8	Use of concentrate feeds (daily dose)
9	Water provision
10, 11, 12	Cleanliness of water points (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
13, 14, 15	Cleanliness of floors in walking areas (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
16, 17, 18	Bedding material management (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
19	Use and management of calving pens
20	Foot inspection and foot bathing
21	Hygiene of milking parlour or milking robot
22	Milking routine
23	Biosecurity measures
Area B – Housing
24	Housing of animals >6 months of age
25, 26, 27	Space availability in the lying area (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
28	Calving pen presence and size
29	Design of the lying area
30, 31, 32	Type of bedding material (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
33, 34, 35	Type of floor in walking areas (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
36, 37, 38	Available space at feed bunk (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
39	Feeding place dimensions and accessibility
40, 41, 42	Functioning and number of water points (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
43	Bedding material for new-born calves (<2 weeks of age) in single pens
44	Space for calves up to 8 weeks of age (in single pens)
45	Possibility for calves to see and touch each other (in single pens)
46	Space for calves in group pens
47	Facilities for sick animals
48	Waiting room and milking parlour design
49	Milking machine or milking robot maintenance
50	Temperature, humidity and ventilation
51	Gas (NH3, H2S, CO2) concentration
52	Artificial lighting
Area C–Animal-based measures
53, 54, 55	Avoidance distance test (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
56, 57, 58	Body condition score (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
59, 60, 61	Cleanliness of flank, upper leg, lower leg and udder (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
62, 63, 64	Integument alterations (lactating cows, dry cows, heifers)
65	Lameness (lactating cows, dry cows)
66	Bulk tank milk somatic cell count
67	Number of antibiotic treatments for clinical mastitis in 1 year
68	Annual mortality rate of adult cows (cows died on farm, euthanized or emergency slaughtered)
69	Annual mortality rate of calves 2–30 days old
70	Mutilations (disbudding, dehorning, tail docking)
Area D: Biosecurity
71	Rodent and insect control
72	Other animal species on the farm
73	General precautions at entry of stranger
74	Management of entrance of regular visitors
75	Disinfecting vehicles at entrance to the farm
76	Possibility of contact between outside vehicles and farm animals
77	Collecting animal carcases
78	Loading live animals
79	Purchasing and/or moving animals outside the farm
80	Quarantine
81	Mastitis control and prevention
82	Control and prevention of major infectious diseases
83	Health condition pertaining to Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)
84	Health condition pertaining to Paratubercolosis
85	Control and analysis of water source
Area E: Risk and alarm systems
86	Water sources
87	Noise
88	Ventilation system alarm
89	Fire alarm
90	Backup power generator

Table 2. Number of animals reared between 2015 and 2018 and percentage of change.

	No. of animals (2015)	No. of animals (2018)	Δ no. of animals	Δ %
Mean	299.74	330.00	30.26	0.09
(± SD)	(± 147.47)	(± 176.68)	(± 39.13)	(± 0.11)

No. of animals (2015): number of animals reared in 2015; no. of animals (2018): number of animals reared in 2018; Δ no of animals: difference in number of animals reared between 2015 and 2018; Δ %: percentage of change in the number of animals between 2015 and 2018.

Table 3. Number and differences in the number of cows, heifers and calves (2015–2018).

	Cows	Cows	Heifers	Heifers	Calves	Calves	Δ	Δ	Δ
	(2015)	(2018)	(2015)	(2018)	(2015)	(2018)	Cows	Heifers	Calves
Mean	124.00	138.61	88.61	97.04	87.09	94.35	14.61	8.43	7.26
(± SD)	(±64.14)	(± 71.37)	(± 43.67)	(± 56.08)	(± 45.04)	(± 55.89)	(± 16.65)	(± 24.01)	(± 16.40)

Δ cows: differences between the cows reared in 2015 and 2018. Δ heifers: differences between the heifers reared in 2015 and 2018. Δ calves: differences between the calves reared in 2015 and 2018.

Table 4. Antimicrobial consumption (2015 vs. 2018).

	ADDD/y	ADDD/y	Δ ADDD/y	Δ ADDD/y %
	(2015)	(2018)
Mean	3.62	3.05	−0.57	−13.0%
(± SD)	(±1.51)	(±1.31)	(±1.04)	(±24.5%)

ADDD/y (2015): ADDD/y for 2015; ADDD/y (2018): ADDD/y for 2018; Δ ADDD/y: difference in ADDD/y between 2015 and 2018; Δ ADDD/y %: percentage of change between 2015 and 2018.

ADDD: animal defined daily dose.

Table 5. Median animal-defined daily dose/y by antimicrobial class.

Antimicrobial category	2015	2018
	Median	Median
	(Range)	(Range
Aminoglycosides	0.38	0.33
	(0–1.25)	(0–1.16)
Penicillins	1.28	1
	(0.07–2.90)	(0.21–3.79)
First and second generation cephalosporines	0.14	0.08
	(0–0.56)	(0–0.71)
Third and fourth generation cephalosporines	0.51	0.34
	(0–1.12)	(0–1.95)
Quinolones	0.17	0.14
	(0–1.20)	(0–1.18)
Phenicols	0	0
	(0–0.15)	(0–0.20)
Polymixins	0^b	0^b
	(0–1.80)	(0–0.12)
Lincosamides	0.02	0.02
	(0–0.72)	(0–0.42)
Macrolides	0.13^a	0.01^a
	(0–0.64)	(0–3.34)
Rifaximin	0	0
	(0–0.23)	(0–0.42)
Sulphonamides	0.1^b	0.01^b
	(0–1.72)	(0–0.60)
Tetracyclines	0.22	0.15)
	(0–2.31)	(0–1.03

^ap = 0.01; ^bp < 0.05.

Figure 1. CRENBA Score assessed in the years 2015 and 2018 (*p ≤ 0.05); Area A: management; Area B: housing; Area C: Animal base measure and the animal-based measure.

Figure 2. Percentage of welfare by tertial. Blue dots: farms with welfare score higher than 66% in both years. Red dots: farms with welfare score lower than 66% for at least one year.

Table 6. Animal-defined daily dose (ADDD)/y (2015 vs. 2018) for each quartile.

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
ADDD/Y 2015	3.40 (± 1.70)	3.38 (± 1.85)	3.64 (± 1.23)	3.28 (± 1.64)
ADDD/Y 2018	2.91 (± 1.78)	4.03 (± 0.60)	2.60 (± 1.03)	2.57 (± 1.21)

Q1: first quartile; Q2: second quartile; Q3: third quartile; Q4: fourth quartile; ADDD/Y 2015: animal defined daily dose for 2015; ADDD/Y 2018: animal defined daily dose for 2018.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.