Page 334 - The Welfare of Cattle

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the Downer Cow

Ivette Noami Roman-Muniz
Colorado State University

CONteNtS

Downer Cow: Definition and Significance .................................................................................... 311
Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies .......................................................................................... 313
Management to Increases Changes of Recovery and Reduce Secondary Damage ....................... 314
The Importance of Standard Operating Procedures, Appropriate Training, and Labor
Management ................................................................................................................................... 317
When Euthanasia Is Needed .......................................................................................................... 318
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 319
References ......................................................................................................................................320

DOWNer COW: DeFINItION aND SIGNIFICaNCe

Downer or nonambulatory animals represent a welfare issue for livestock agriculture, par-
ticularly the dairy cattle industry. In the 1950s, the term “downer” was already being employed
by researchers and veterinary practitioners to describe recumbent cattle (Fenwick, 1969). Since
then, the condition of recumbency has been the only consistent requirement for classifying cattle as
downers. For over six decades, authors have designated varying number of hours of recumbency,
degree of alertness, posture, and known or unknown causes of disease as additional requirements to
identify cattle as downers (Cox et al., 1986; Correa et al., 1993; Fenwick, 1969; Green et al., 2008;
Stojkov et al., 2016; Stull et al., 2007).
Early on, the term downer described cows that remained in sternal recumbency soon after calving,
without any obvious illness, but that lacked strength to stand up (Fenwick, 1969). These early reports
associated downer cows almost exclusively with milk fever and suggested administration of calcium as
the treatment of choice for downers. While the early definitions did not specify a length of recumbency,
downer cows have been characterized as recumbent in sternal position for more than 24 hours for no
obvious reason by several researchers (Cox et al., 1986; Poulton et al., 2016a, b; Stull et al., 2007). Other
authors have proposed using a 12 hour time frame to identify downer cows (Stojkov et al., 2016).
Inconsistent use of the terms downer or nonambulatory by researchers has been problematic
as it has resulted in varying conclusions regarding the significance of the problem, the indicated
promptness of treatment, and more importantly, the time frame for considering euthanasia as an
appropriate course of action to avoid prolonged suffering and to ensure the health and safety of
humans and other animals. For example, characterizing downers as cows with no severe systemic

311