The prevalence of loser cows in extensive breeding systems in Transylvania

• Published in: Turkish journal of veterinary & animal sciences Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 519 - 524
• Main Authors: BORDA, Cristin, SANDRU, Dana C, HEGEDÜS, Cristina I, POPESCU, Silvana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: TÜBİTAK 2010
• Subjects: Animal Genetics and Breeding; Animal Husbandry and Production; Animal Welfare; breeding; cows; dairy herds; ekstansif yetiştiricilik; extensive husbandry; Hayvan Genetiği ve Islahı; Hayvan Korunması ( Sosyal); Hayvan Yetiştiriciliği ve Üretim; inek; ıslah; medium sized farms; orta ölçekli işletmeler; Romania; Romanya; süt sığırcılığı
• ISSN: 1300-0128
• DOI: 10.3906/vet-0810-46

The loser cow concept was introduced in scientiWc literature in 2005, by the Danish researcher Thomsen,
referring to the cow 'unable to keep up with the rest of the herd' . Since in Transylvania (Romania) the great majority of
cattle are kept in extensive breeding systems, in small and middle sized farms, the purpose of the present study was to
establish the prevalence of loser cows in such systems. The identiWcation of loser cows was done based on a clinical
protocol including 7 clinical signs, from which the loser cow score was calculated. Seven hundred and sixty nine cows
in 123 small farms (2-15 cows/farm) in Transylvania were evaluated.The prevalence of loser cows in the investigated farms
was between 0% and 13.3%.The overall prevalence of the loser cows (in 769 assessed cows) was 1.82%, a Wgure that can
be considered low.Our study wasmeant to present a global image of the loser cows in a traditional type of animal housing,
still present in Romania as well as in many other regions of the world.