Table 7.
Descriptive statistics and means comparison of integument alteration scores for all spring-calving, pasture-based study farms in southern Ireland during grazing (VISIT1) and when housed (VISIT2) in the 2019–2020 season1
| Zone 12 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 | Zone 5 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | S | M | N | S | M | N | S | M | N | S | M | N | S | M | |
| Grazing | |||||||||||||||
| Mean % | 95.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 74.4 | 12.5 | 13.1 | 93.7 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 98.6 | 1 | 0.4 | 97.8 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| SEM | 1.16 | 0.91 | 0.39 | 2.36 | 1.26 | 1.73 | 1.21 | 0.63 | 0.84 | 0.3 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.59 | 0.36 | 0.28 |
| Min | 43.6 | 0 | 0 | 14.3 | 0 | 0 | 35.4 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 0 | 0 |
| Max | 100 | 52.7 | 28 | 100 | 39.4 | 74.6 | 100 | 30.3 | 58.3 | 100 | 11.7 | 16 | 100 | 18.2 | 19.2 |
| Median | 98.3 | 1.5 | 0 | 79.2 | 7.8 | 6.3 | 98.1 | 1.8 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Lower 95% CI | 92.8 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 69.7 | 10 | 9.7 | 91.3 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 98 | 0.6 | 0 | 96.6 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| Upper 95% CI | 97.4 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 79.1 | 15 | 16.6 | 96.1 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 99.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 99 | 2.2 | 1.3 |
| Housed | |||||||||||||||
| Mean % | 34.2 | 45.9 | 19.9 | 67.8 | 13.7 | 18.5 | 90.4 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 96.8 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 94.7 | 3.8 | 1.5 |
| SEM | 2.78 | 2.65 | 2.71 | 2 | 0.74 | 1.73 | 1.51 | 1.26 | 0.35 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.15 | 0.82 | 0.47 | 0.57 |
| Min | 0 | 5.1 | 0 | 20.5 | 0 | 0 | 35.7 | 0 | 0 | 74.5 | 0 | 0 | 51.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Max | 92.5 | 92 | 92.9 | 98.1 | 32.2 | 64.1 | 100 | 58.9 | 20.5 | 100 | 19.6 | 5.9 | 100 | 17 | 41.4 |
| Median | 28.7 | 46.1 | 8.3 | 69.4 | 13.3 | 13.3 | 95.1 | 4 | 0 | 98.1 | 1.5 | 0 | 97.1 | 2.2 | 0 |
| Lower 95% CI | 28.7 | 40.6 | 14.5 | 63.8 | 12.2 | 15.1 | 87.4 | 5.8 | 0.6 | 95.8 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 93.1 | 2.9 | 0.4 |
| Upper 95% CI | 39.7 | 51.2 | 25.3 | 71.8 | 15.1 | 22 | 93.4 | 10.8 | 2 | 97.8 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 96.3 | 4.7 | 2.6 |
| P-value3 (grazing vs. housed) | <0.001‡ | <0.001† | <0.001‡ | 0.13† | 1.0† | 0.11† | 0.22‡ | 0.05‡ | 1.0‡ | <0.01‡ | <0.001‡ | 0.26‡ | <0.001‡ | <0.001‡ | 0.40‡ |
1Mean of 54 cows/farm (range: 33 to 76 cows/farm) scored at VISIT1 (grazing) and 52 cows/farm (range: 31 to 72 cows/farm) scored at VISIT2 (housed). Integument was scored on a total of 81 farms at VISIT1 and 82 farms at VISIT2.
2One side of each scored cow was visually divided into five zones: 1) head–neck–back; 2) hindquarters; 3) lower rear legs; 4) flank, side, and udder; and 5) lower front legs. Each zone was scored for none (N), single (S), or multiple (M) areas of integument alteration.
3Bonferroni-corrected P-value for multiple comparisons of mean differences between VISIT1 and VISIT 2 (significant difference at P < 0.05). Tests were either paired t-tests for normally distributed variables (†) or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for non-normally distributed variables (‡).