Over 5
years 35 farms in transition as well as 5 farms with already established horned
herds were scientifically monitored and assisted through an advisory process.
On the basis of repeated status quo analyses, insights from individual farm
advice and from knowledge exchange in peer groups, the incorporation of
practical experience, a survey on self-locking feeding gates at 31 farms and
literature, a "Toolbox for the keeping of horned dairy cows" was
developed. This Toolbox provides systematic instructions for the assessment of
the farm situation with regard to horn-related damage and its evaluating using
a traffic light system. If necessary, it enables to determine causes of
problems and it provides recommendations for improvement. The following project
results had been taken into account: Most agonistic interactions took place,
with farm-specific differences, in the feeding and waiting area and when
leaving the milking parlour. The reduction of competitive situations, the
promotion of a calm herd and a good overview at the drinking troughs for the
cows constantly proved to contribute to a reduction of horn related damage. Depending
on the interaction between animal, housing, herd management and humans, farms were
found that had low levels of horn-related damage, even if some aspects, such as
aisle widths or dead ends, did not conform to common recommendations. At the
same time, the more recommendations were followed, the less damage was
generally observed. Additional investigations on 21 farms in the 4th year revealed
less skin damage during summer with grazing. The occurrence of blood milk,
systematically recorded in 25 herds in the 5th year, was reduced by lowered competition
around feeding. Final monitoring of 20 farms showed that success of the
advisory process becomes sometimes only visible in the long term. The project
results were transferred into practice through 10 practical workshops and 2
training courses for advisors.