Table 5.
Cow- and herd-related factors associated with severe hock lesions (HL) in the final multivariable logistic regression model including 919 cows from 88 Swedish dairy herds
| Variables and categories | β | SE | OR | CI | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intercept | − 0.96 | 0.37 | 0.011 | ||
| Breed | |||||
| Swedish Holstein (SH) | Ref | ||||
| Swedish Red (SR) | − 0.52 | 0.19 | 0.60 | 0.41–0.87 | 0.008 |
| SH × SR | − 0.16 | 0.31 | 0.78 | 0.46–1.55 | 0.596 |
| Days in milk | |||||
| 0–90 | Ref | ||||
| 91–180 | 0.46 | 0.23 | 1.59 | 1.01–2.51 | 0.047 |
| 181–305 | 0.91 | 0.23 | 2.47 | 1.57–3.91 | < 0.001 |
| > 305 | 0.11 | 0.31 | 1.12 | 0.60–2.07 | 0.723 |
| Hygiene score a | |||||
| 1–2 | Ref | ||||
| 3 | − 0.17 | 0.21 | 0.84 | 0.56–1.26 | 0.404 |
| 4 | − 0.86 | 0.32 | 0.42 | 0.23–0.79 | 0.007 |
| Parity | |||||
| First parity | Ref | ||||
| Second parity | − 0.11 | 0.23 | 0.90 | 0.57–1.42 | 0.638 |
| Third or higher parity | 0.77 | 0.21 | 2.16 | 1.45–3.23 | < 0.001 |
| Cubicle width | |||||
| Below recommendation | Ref | ||||
| As recommended | − 1.03 | 0.19 | 0.36 | 0.24–0.52 | < 0.001 |
| Production system | |||||
| Conventional | Ref | ||||
| Organic | − 1.54 | 0.27 | 0.21 | 0.13–0.36 | < 0.001 |
| Teat disinfectant or other spray/dip applied after milking | |||||
| Spray | Ref | ||||
| Dip | − 0.75 | 0.30 | 0.47 | 0.26–0.85 | 0.012 |
| None | − 1.15 | 0.52 | 0.32 | 0.12–0.87 | 0.026 |
| Type of milking parlor | |||||
| Herringbone | Ref | ||||
| Tandem | − 0.76 | 0.20 | 0.47 | 0.31–0.69 | < 0.001 |
β regression coefficients, OR odds ratio, CI 95% confidence interval, Ref reference level
aHygiene score 1–4: (1) completely clean, (2) manure stains on hind limb and/or udder (1 and 2 merged due to few observations in category 1), (3) one to two areas of manure patches of at least 10 cm in diameter, and (4) more than 2 areas of manure patches as described for score 3