Cubicle refusal and rearing accommodation as possible mastitis risk factors in cubicle-housed dairy heifers

Fifty-nine of the 65 dairy farms with cubicle sheds in the Norwegian county of Oppland in 1990 were included in a study of rearing accommodation, cubi cle refusal and mastitis incidence. The farmers recorded the favoured resti ng location of the individual cows and heifers throughout the final week of pregnancy as well as during calving. The observations were matched with in dividual records of mastitis cases during the first 30 days after calving. Mastitis incidence in the heifers was analysed by logistic regression using rearing accommodation and cubicle refusal as independent variables, contro lling for herd as a clustering factor. Cubicle refusal was found in 29% of the heifers, but in only 3% of older cows. The results of the analysis indi cated a tendency for cubicle refusal to be associated with an increased mas titis incidence among the heifers (OR=2.2, c.i.(95%OR)=0.9-5.4, P=0.08). Cu bicle refusal accounted for 21% (0-32%) of the mastitis cases in the study population (PAF=0.21).