At many marine-terminating glaciers, the breakup of mélange, a floating aggregation of sea ice and icebergs, has been accompanied by an increase in iceberg calving and ice mass loss. Previous studies have argued that mélange may suppress calving by exerting a buttressing force directly on the glacier terminus. In this study, I adapt a discrete element model to explicitly simulate mélange as a c...

than to calf birth weight alone. Percent calving difficulty is the percentage of births requiring assistance from the herdsman. Calving scores of3 or higher were classified as difficult births based on a scoring system ranging from I = no assistance to 5 = caesarian birth or abnormal presentation. Due to the substantially higher incidence of calving difficulty in 1978 over 1979 (11.3 percent vs...

producers. This loss is estimated at $750 million annually nationwide. Calving difficulty increases calf death loss, cow mortality, labor and veterinary costs; it delays the return of cows to estrus and reduces conception rates. It also lowers calf weaning weight and market value, which results from breeding of young heifers and cows to easy calving bulls to reduce calving difficulty. Studies s...

ABSTARCT The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of factors affecting reproductive traits in the Holstein population of the Isfahan dairy farms for subsequent compilation of the model for genetic evaluation as well as for herd management practice. A data set containing 99012 records were analyzed by a linear model with fixed effects of year , herd ,season, parity of dam, calving ...

The main reason for calving replacement heifers early is economics. Economic assessments (2) have demonstrated that heifer rearing cost increases $50.00 to $60.00 each month calving is delayed. In addition, older calving ages result in the need for more heifers for herd replacement. These classic concepts are presented in Table 1. Conceptually, as calving age is reduced there is a linear reduct...

p REPARTUM and post-partum energy intake has been shown to influence reproductive performance of beef cows (Wiltbank et al., 1962, 1964). A low level of energy before calving was shown to delay onset of estrus following calving. Marked differences in conception rate were noted in cows on varying levels of energy following calving. Conception rate was decreased by low levels of energy after calv...

Body condition score is used as a management tool to predict competency of reproduction in beef cows. Therefore, a retrospective study was performed to evaluate association of BCS at calving with subsequent pregnancy rate, days to first postpartum ovulation, nutrient status (assessed by blood metabolites), and calf BW change in 2- and 3-yr-old cows (n = 351) managed and selected to fit their en...

During the periparturient period, some impairment of immune defences were observed. Reference values for the different non-specific immune parameters in cows are not generally available, thus limiting the application of these parameters in dairy practice. This paper reports the data on the measurements of different parameters in the blood, and explores the possible influence of the herd on the ...

Past research has suggested that during the calving period, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in Arctic Alaska generally avoid areas within 1 km of oilfield roads with traffic. However, avoidance is not absolute, and caribou may habituate to infrastructure (e.g., buildings, roads, well pads) and human activity. We conducted road-based surveys of caribou in oilfields on Alaska’s Arctic Coastal Plain d...