During early postpartum, high-producing dairy cows undergo a period of extensive tissue catabolism because of negative nutrient balance. Homeorrhetic controls assure that nutrients are partitioned to favor lactation at the same time that homeostasis secures survival. However, unrestrained metabolic disturbances often lead to diseases which, in turn, dramatically decrease both productive and rep...

BACKGROUND In dairy cows, the periparturient phase is a stressful period, which is commonly associated with strong metabolic adaptations and the development of pathophysiologic conditions and disorders. Some of the symptoms occurring in the liver, such as the development of fatty liver, are similar to those observed under the condition of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Therefore, we hypothe...

To determine the effects of BCS at parturition and postpartum lipid supplementation on blood metabolite and hormone concentrations, 3-yr-old Angus x Gelbvieh beef cows, which were nutritionally managed to achieve a BCS of 4 +/- 0.07 (479.3 +/- 36.3 kg of BW) or 6 +/- 0.07 (579.6 +/- 53.1 kg of BW) at parturition, were used in a 2-yr experiment (n = 36/yr). Beginning at 3 d postpartum, cows with...

This experiment was designed to determine 1) if exposure of firstcalf suckled beef cows to mature bulls in the first 30 days, after 30 days, or continuously post partum reduces the postpartum anestrous period and 2) if exposure to bulls alters the first service pregnancy rate. Postpartum first-calf suckled crossbred (Angus x Hereford; Hereford x Angus) cows were randomly assigned to be 1) expos...

Uterine infection is a major problem in reproductive management and inefficient estrous detection. The bovine uterus is sterile before calving and the cervix provides a barrier against intrauterine invasion by pathogens during gestation1. Following calving, the uterus may become infected due to presence of infectious or non-specific microorganisms. Several bacterial, protozoan, viral and mycopl...

Endometritis is a prevalent uterine infection in postpartum dairy cows that causes some alterations in the endometrium. So, the aim of this study was to determine the comparative cellular and histological characteristics of uterus, especially neutrophils index and cell morphological alterations, in healthy and endometritic Holstein cows. Thirty non-pregnant cows were used. Based on uterine disc...

BACKGROUND Healthy cows consume large amounts of potassium and a sudden loss in appetite can lead to hypokalemia. The routine method to evaluate potassium homeostasis is the measurement of the extracellular potassium in plasma or serum, but this does not provide information about the intracellular potassium pool. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES To evaluate potassium homeostasis by comparing the extrace...

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the interval between the onset of spontaneous estrus and artificial insemination (AI) on reproductive performance and calf sex ratio in repeat breeder Holstein cows. Two hundred eighty lactating Holstein cows were used in this study. The animals were artificially inseminated at different times (0–6, 7–12, 13–18, or 19–24 h) after the onset o...

A decrease in insulin sensitivity enhances adipose tissue lipolysis helping early lactation cows counteracting their energy deficit. However, excessive lipolysis poses serious health risks for cows, and its underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood. The present study used targeted ESI-LC-MS/MS-based metabolomics and indirect insulin sensitivity measurements to evaluate metabolic alterati...

BACKGROUND The physiological mechanism by which bulls stimulate resumption of ovarian cycling activity in postpartum, anovular, suckled cows after calving may involve the concurrent activation of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-ovarian (HPO) axis and hypothalamic-hypophyseal-adrenal (HPA) axis. Thus, the objectives of this experiment were to determine if characteristics of temporal patterns of cor...