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Table 1 Potential risk factors for scrapie considered in the analyses

From: Flock-level risk factors for scrapie in Great Britain: analysis of a 2002 anonymous postal survey

Attribute

Description, coding and comments

region

Great Britain divided into the 13 regions indicated in figure 1

farm type

hill (H); upland (U); lowland (L)

flock type

purebred (P); commercial (C); both (PC)

flock size

log(number of rams and ewes over one year old)

stocking density

quartiles for stocking density (number of rams and ewes over one year old divided by the number of acres grazed): <0.85 (Q1); <1.56 (Q2); <2.51 (Q3); >2.51 (Q4)

proportion homebred

the proportion of rams and ewes over one year old born on the farm; the AOR gives the change in odds for an increase of 10% in the proportion of homebred animals

rams bought-in

did (1) or did not (0) purchase rams in the previous 12 months

ewes bought-in

did (1) or did not (0) purchase ewes in the previous 12 months

lambs bought-in

did (1) or did not (0) purchase lambs in the previous 12 months

sheep temporarily moved elsewhere

sheep did (1) or did not (0) temporarily spend time on other farms in the last 12 months (e.g. over-wintering, summer grazing, fattening)

lambing practices

sheep lambed: in individual pens in a building (1); unconfined at pasture (2); in group pens at pasture (3); in group pens in a building (4); did not lamb in the previous 12 months (5)

lambing location

sheep lambed: always in the same location (1); sometimes in the same location (2); never in the same location (3)

breeds kept on farm

most popular breeds and crossbreeds of ewes and rams (those reported on over 150 farms); coded as do (1) or do not (0) keep breed on the farm