CapriMam3D: 3D technologies to support goat milking tomorrowThe goat udder is at the heart of many issues: animal health and welfare, milk quality, zootechnical performance and well-being of farmers. The diversity of the udders involves adapting milking equipment and improving genetic selection on the morphology of the teats. CapriMam3D has developed a 3D scanner of the caprine udders which generates more precise and repeatable images than those obtained via conventional manual pointing. The standard for in vitro teat cup testing requires teats made of hard plastic, but thanks to 3D technologies, flexible and anatomical artificial teats have been created, with behaviors similar to those observed on milking farms. Thermography or congestion measurement of teat tissues with cutimeter allow in vivo tests to complete these approaches to measure the impact of milking equipment on teats and thus define the most suitable liner/teat combinations.

Le cahier des charges en agriculture biologique (AB) interdit les traitements à base d’hormones ou substances analogues en vue de maîtriser la reproduction. En AB, la reproduction des petits ruminants est possible à contre-saison grâce à l’effet mâle. Les traitements lumineux sans mélatonine pour désaisonner la reproduction peuvent aussi être appliqués en bâtiments ouverts et sont compatibles avec le pâturage mais peu utilisés sur le terrain. L’insémination animale (IA) est peu répandue pour les ovins et caprins en AB, elle peut être réalisée sur chaleurs naturelles (saison sexuelle) ou induites et synchronisées par effet mâle (contre-saison). Dans les deux cas, les IA s’étalent sur plusieurs jours et nécessitent une détection des chaleurs préalable. En élevages caprins, la conduite en lactation longue est également une alternative pour désaisonner la production laitière. Dans les élevages porcins en AB, l’effet mâle peut faciliter l’induction de la puberté des cochettes, la stimulation d’œstrus de lactation, et la diminution de l’intervalle sevrage-œstrus ; toutefois il est utilisé principalement pour améliorer l’expression des chaleurs. La stimulation par le transport et le changement social et/ou d’environnement est largement utilisée pour induire et synchroniser les œstrus des cochettes de renouvellement. Chez les bovins, l’interdiction des traitements hormonaux n’est pas pénalisante en AB, car la reproduction est possible toute l’année par monte naturelle (majoritaire en élevage allaitant) ou par IA (majoritaire en élevage laitier) sur chaleurs naturelles. Dans toutes les espèces, le « flushing » alimentaire avant la mise à la reproduction est pratiqué dans le but d’améliorer la fertilité. La mise en œuvre de ces pratiques en AB est le résultat d’un équilibre entre enjeux financier, réglementaire et éthique.

In France, the use of extended lactations (EL: more than 485 days of continuous lactation in the absence of parturition) has been developed and diversified to meet farmers’ objectives: management of out-of-season production, staggering production, management of career endings. The study has been carried out to describe EL diversity and performance at the career level. The analysis was based on monitoring data from 1998 to 2016 and involved 739,566 goats from 2103 herds (Alpine, Saanen or crossbred goats). Careers were distinguished according to the existence or not of at least one normal lactation (NL: more than 250 days), the achievement and positioning of EL during animal life. The number of milking days and the cumulative production were compared within first kidding cohorts. In the studied goats, the career spanned from one to 14 lactations. 16.4 % of the goats achieved at least one EL in their career and in more than 90 % of the cases, only one EL. The average EL duration reached 717 days but differed according to the positioning of EL: from 649 days (EL at the beginning of the career) to 782 days (EL at the end of the career or single EL). Differences were observed at the career level on adjusted averages of the number of milking days: 841 to 1845 days, i.e. a factor of 1.10 to 1.79 times the average duration obtained by the goats of the same cohort. Over this period, cumulated productions varied on adjusted average from 2350 to 5704 liters, i.e. a production of 2.73 to 3.01 liters/day compared to 2.68 for the reference goats. Finally, at the career level, no significant difference of milk somatic cell counts means was found between categories (excluding goats without NL). Nevertheless, somatic cell counts were increased during the EL itself. Studies remain to be conducted to clarify the existence of antagonism or not between production, milk persistence and fertility.

In France, among the goat breeders on genetic improvement programs, udder scores are recorded annually on primiparous does. New phenotypes include imbalances of the udder (166,929 records since 2016) and milky cysts (100,079 records since 2018). The objectives of this study were to (1) describe the frequency and intensity of these new phenotypes, (2) evaluate their associations with udder conformation traits, (3) determine their impact on milk somatic cell counts (SCC) and dairy production performance. Udder imbalances were defined using a 4-level grid according to the height difference between udder halves. Milky cysts were described as either isolated or numerous. The data were compared with information on mammary conformation (9 traits, each being evaluated on a scale of 1 to 9 with the exception of the length of the teat), SCC (geometric mean calculated over 250 days of lactation) and milk production performance obtained over a reference period of 250 days. In 90.8% (of the cases, udder imbalances were absent or very small, with the most pronounced imbalances (>= 10 cm difference between glands) accounting present in only 1.1% of goats. The greatest deficiencies were associated with low udders and poorly attached udders (fore and rear attachments). SCC increased with the degree of imbalance, from 589,000 to 1349,000 cel/ml between no or slight imbalance and an imbalance of >= 10 cm or more. Milky cysts were recorded in 1.9% of the scored udders. Udders with cysts were characterized by poor fore attachments. Likely of traumatic origin, milky cysts were nevertheless associated with increased SCC: 646,000 vs. 912,000 cells/ml for no cysts and numerous cysts, respectively. The hypothesis of a deterioration in milking conditions for the most severe cases remains to be assessed. Finally, impacts on milk production or protein and fat contents reached - 14.1%, - 9.7% and -12.9% respectively for unbalanced udders compared to balanced ones. They were not noticeable for the presence of cysts.

The specifications for organic farming prohibit treatments based on hormones or similar substances in order to control reproduction. In organic farms, out-of-season breeding of sheep and goats can be achieved by male effect. Light treatments (without melatonin administration) can also be applied in open buildings and are compatible with grazing but little used in the field. Artificial insemination (AI) is little used on small ruminant organic breeding and performed after natural estrus (breeding season) or synchronized estrus by male effect (out-of-season breeding). AI protocols require prior detection of estrus and multiple AI over several days. In goats, extended lactation is an alternative to out-of-season milk production. In pig organic breeding, the male effect can facilitate puberty induction in gilts, stimulation of lactation estrus and the decrease of the weaning-to-estrus interval duration; however, it is mainly used to stimulate expression of estrus behavior. Transport, relocation and mixing is widely used to induce and synchronize estrus in replacement gilts. In cattle, breeding can be performed all over the year and is performed by natural mating (mostly in suckler cows) or by AI (mostly in dairy cows) after natural estrus. That is why the ban on hormonal treatments for estrus induction and synchronization is not disadvantageous in cattle organic farming. In all species, nutritional flushing (increased nutrition) is used before the breeding period to improve fertility. The implementation of these practices in organic farming is the result of a balance between financial, regulatory and ethical issues.

ELISA methods are the diagnostic tools recommended for the serological diagnosis of Coxiella burnetii infection in ruminants but their respective diagnostic performances are difficult to assess because of the absence of a gold standard. This study focused on three commercial ELISA tests with the following objectives (1) assess their sensitivity and specificity in sheep, goats and cattle, (2) assess the between- and within-herd seroprevalence distribution in these species, accounting for diagnostic errors, and (3) estimate optimal sample sizes considering sensitivity and specificity at herd level. We comparatively tested 1413 cattle, 1474 goat and 1432 sheep serum samples collected in France. We analyzed the cross-classified test results with a hierarchical zero-inflated beta-binomial latent class model considering each herd as a population and conditional dependence as a fixed effect. Potential biases and coverage probabilities of the model were assessed by simulation. Conditional dependence for truly seropositive animals was high in all species for two of the three ELISA methods. Specificity estimates were high, ranging from 94.8% [92.1; 97.8] to 99.2% [98.5; 99.7], whereas sensitivity estimates were generally low, ranging from 39.3 [30.7; 47.0] to 90.5% [83.3; 93.8]. Between- and within-herd seroprevalence estimates varied greatly among geographic areas and herds. Overall, goats showed higher within-herd seroprevalence levels than sheep and cattle. The optimal sample size maximizing both herd sensitivity and herd specificity varied from 3 to at least 20 animals depending on the test and ruminant species. This study provides better interpretation of three widely used commercial ELISA tests and will make it possible to optimize their implementation in future studies. The methodology developed may likewise be applied to other human or animal diseases.

Q fever is a zoonotic abortive disease of ruminants mostly transmitted by inhalation of aerosols contaminated by Coxiella burnetii. Clusters of cases or even epidemics regularly occur in humans but, to date, there is no consensus about the best way to carry out outbreak investigations in order to identify potential farms at risk. Although environmental samples might be useful during such investigations, there are few baseline data on the presence of C. burnetii in the environment of ruminant farms. We thus investigated dust samples from cattle, sheep and goat farm buildings in order to (a) estimate C. burnetii detection frequency and bacterial loads in the environment, and (b) determine whether this environmental contamination is associated with series of abortions attributed to Q fever. We considered 113 herds with a recent abortive episode potentially related (n = 60) or not (n = 53) to C. burnetii. Dust was sampled using a swab cloth and tested by a quantitative PCR method targeting the IS1111 gene. Coxiella burnetii DNA was detected on 9 of 50 cattle farms, 13 of 19 goat farms and 30 of 40 sheep farms. On 16 cloths, bacterial loads were higher than 10(8) genome equivalents, levels as high as in infectious materials such as placentas and aborted foetuses. Overall, the probability of detecting C. burnetii DNA was higher on small ruminant farms than cattle farms, in herds suspected of Q fever and in large herds. We conclude that swab cloths are a putative indicator of contamination of ruminant farms by C. burnetii.