Document Detail


Danish dairy farmers' perceptions and attitudes related to calf-management in situations of high versus no calf mortality.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19303152     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Calf mortality has remained at a high (risk approximately 7%) in Denmark, despite much knowledge disseminated to farmers. We conducted a qualitative interview to explore calf managers' perception of their own management and working situation, and how this related to calf mortality problems in their herds. Twenty-eight calf managers from herds with either no (NO) or high (HI; 17-31%) calf mortality in 2004 were included in the study. We used our judgement to create a model of the inter-relationships among the attitudes that seemed most different between the two groups of farmers. 'Flexible time,' (for activities such as management of crisis or unexpected events) was crucial; it allowed the farmer to intervene immediately at first sign of a crisis. Our interpretation suggests that focus on the farmers time planning and structure of everyday activities is, therefore, a key to understanding and solving problems related to calf disease and mortality. An important distinction between the groups was whether the calf manager had a basic belief that calf mortality is a permanent crisis that has to be expected to be present on a dairy farm. Previous experience in solving disease and mortality problems in calves had a strong positive influence on this belief. We suggest that the issues of empowerment and flexible time management be explored further to assist dairy-calf raisers.
Authors:
Mette Vaarst; Jan Tind Sørensen
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2009-03-19
Journal Detail:
Title:  Preventive veterinary medicine     Volume:  89     ISSN:  1873-1716     ISO Abbreviation:  Prev. Vet. Med.     Publication Date:  2009 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-04-06     Completed Date:  2009-07-22     Revised Date:  2009-10-26    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8217463     Medline TA:  Prev Vet Med     Country:  Netherlands    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  128-33     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
University of Aarhus, Institute for Animal Health, Welfare and Nutrition, P.O. Box 50, Tjele DK-8830, Denmark. Mette.Vaarst@agrsci.dk
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Animal Husbandry / methods*
Animals
Animals, Newborn / growth & development
Cattle
Cattle Diseases / mortality*
Dairying / methods*
Denmark
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Interviews as Topic
Male
Pregnancy
Risk Factors

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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