Objective-  To study the effect of digit amputation on animal survival, and distribution of   lesions on limbs, days in milk and parity in operated cows.   Design- Retrospective descriptive study.   Animals- Thirteen cows in a dairy herd consisting 1100 lactating Holstein cows.   Procedures- Digit amputation by using a loop wire after inducing local intravenous anesthesia. Results- Digits of ...

BVDV is estimated to cost an average dairy between $20 and $160 per adult cow per year. These losses include medication and labor to treat acute infections, milk production losses in lactating cows, infertility due to decreased conception and early embryonic death, abortions, loss of weak, abnormal, or persistently infected calves. Large scale herd outbreaks such as occurred in the early 1990s ...

BACKGROUND The dairy industry has undergone substantial structural changes as intensive farming has developed during recent decades. Mastitis continues to be the most common production disease of dairy cows. Nationwide surveys of mastitis prevalence are useful in monitoring udder health of dairy herds and to study the impact of structural changes on the dairy industry. This survey on bovine sub...

The objectives of this study were to relate concentrations of plasma (PUN) and milk (MUN) urea nitrogen to pregnancy rate in dairy cows and compare various methods of analysis and preparation of milk for measuring MUN. In two experiments, blood or milk samples were collected on the day of AI from Holstein cows (n = 160 and n = 155, respectively). Three methods of MUN analysis were compared. Two...

The objective was to determine whether the use of estradiol-17beta (E2) at the initiation of short dry periods prevented an anticipated decline in milk production in the subsequent lactation. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 66) were dried at either 60 or 30 d before expected calving. Treatments in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement included: D60 (n = 19, 60-d dry, no E2), D60 + E2 (n = 18, 60-d dry, E2...

The lactating cow mammary secretory epithelial cell is very active synthetically and contains numerous very pleomorphic mitochondria. Cup- and ring-shaped mitochondria are frequent and many are extremely elongated. Preferential localization of mitochondria in the basal region, or at the lateral margins of the secretory cell adjacent to intraepithelial monocytes have been observed. Occasional mi...

This article explores a technique for measuring the energy (NEL) value of feeds without respiration calorimetry or slaughter. The objectives were to compare results obtained from goats with those from cows, and to describe factors which limited the precision of these NEL estimates. One lactating Alpine doe and one lactateing Holstein cow were assigned to each of six different sequences of three...

The effects of four contrasting diets were determined on populations of three species of ruminal cellulolytic bacteria (Ruminococcus albus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, and Fibrobacter succinogenes) using oligonucleotide probes to rRNA. Diets based on alfalfa silage or corn silage as the primary fiber source were formulated to contain either 24 or 32% neutral detergent fiber measured after alpha-...

This study assessed the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) treatment on Day 5 (Day 0 = estrus) on luteal blood flow and accuracy of pregnancy prediction in recipient cows. On Day 5, 120 lactating Holstein cows were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 63) or GnRH group treated with 100 μg of GnRH agonist (n = 57). On Days 3, 5, 7, and 14, each cow underwent ultrasound examina...