Within a dairy herd, total milk production is determined by the proportion of cows producing milk at any given time and the level of milk production of the individual cows within the herd. Improving reproductive efficiency helps to maintain the maximal number of cows producing milk at optimal levels. Reproductive efficiency in dairy cattle currently is suboptimal primarily due to four factors: ...

Culture of bovine embryos with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) can improve development to the blastocyst stage and embryo survival following transfer to heat-stressed, lactating dairy cows. Two experiments were conducted to determine whether IGF-1 could improve embryo survival and development at Day 14 after ovulation. In Experiment 1, non-lactating Holstein cows (n=58) were selected as re...

This experiment evaluated the effect of feeding dairy cows with cottonseeds containing BollGard r (Cry1Ac) and BollGard r II (Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab), Roundup Ready r (CP4 EPSPS) and control non-transgenic cottonseed on dry matter intake, milk yield and milk composition. Twelve lactating multiparous Argentinean Holstein cows weighing 570 kg (BW) were used in a 4x4 Latin square design, with 3 squares...

The feeding of distillers grains to dairy cattle is nothing new; such products have been fed cattle for more than a century. The research article by Loosli et al. (1952) referenced an 1895 Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin that reported on the feeding of distillers grains to lactating cows. In many respects, one might say that responses to feeding distillers grains today should b...

Introduction In modern dairy cattle operations, antimicrobials are administered for both therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. Most antimicrobials are used therapeutically but some antimicrobials are used to prevent disease in healthy animals during periods of increased susceptibility. Mastitis is one of the most frequent infectious diseases in dairy cattle and accounts for most of the doses o...

BACKGROUND Salmonella are the major pathogenic bacteria in humans as well as in animals. Salmonella species are leading causes of acute gastroenteritis in several countries and salmonellosis remains an important public health problem worldwide, particularly in the developing countries. The situation is more aggravated by the ever increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance strains. Cattle have ...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the changing profiles of plasma metabolic hormones during the ovarian cycles of beef and dairy cattle. We used 16 non-pregnant, non-lactating Japanese Black beef cattle (6 heifers and 10 cows; parity=2.3 +/- 0.8) and 12 multiparous Holstein dairy cows (parity=3.0 +/- 0.3). Blood samples for hormonal analysis (growth hormone, GH; insulin-like growt...

This study was conducted to determine a proper feeding regime for lactating Holstein cows during the warm season in Taiwan. In Feeding Trial, 21 lactating Holstein cows were randomly allotted into three feeding regimes in a Completely Randomized Design. The feeding regimes were roughage fed ad libitum along with concentrate fed either twice daily (2C) or four times daily (4C), and total mixed r...