We evaluated the effect of shortening the dry period (DP) on milk and energy-corrected milk (ECM) yields, milk components, colostrum quality, metabolic status, and reproductive parameters. Primiparous (n=372) and multiparous (n=400) Israeli Holstein cows from 5 commercial dairy herds were subjected to a 60-d or 40-d DP. Cows within each herd were paired according to milk production, age, days i...

Three-hundred and thirty-five lactating dairy cows from two herds were used to compare the effects on reproductive performance of intramuscular injections of 100 micrograms gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), 250 micrograms GnRH or saline given on day 13, 14 or 15 postpartum. The incidence of ovarian cysts or uterine infections was not reduced after GnRH injection. Culling rate for infertili...

The present study evaluated cortisol levels during peripartum period in crossbred cows that did and did not develop puerperal metritis (PM). Accuracy of cortisol to differentiate the cows at the risk of developing PM from healthy cows was measured by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. Cortisol concentrations were estimated in blood plasma samples collected from pluriparous Karan...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of puerperal uterine disease on uterine blood flow using trans-rectal Doppler sonography. Lactating Holstein Friesian cows (n=44) were divided into two groups based on whether they were healthy (UD-; n=23) or had uterine disease (UD+; n=21) defined as retained fetal membranes and/or metritis. General clinical examination, vaginoscopy, t...

The transition period is the most critical time of the cow’s lactation cycle that is associated with the onset of mastitis. In this study, changes of plasma proteins in cows (n = 12) with or without subclinical mastitis after calving were determined by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), which detected 18 spots with variations in protein spots abundance. These spots were identified by liqui...

introduction cattle are a monotocous species meaning that, under most circumstances, a successful pregnancy results in the birth of one calf. twinning rate has been reported in dairy cows from 3 to 5 percent, which can be influenced by maternal age.the birth of twins is detrimental to the majority of beef and dairy cattle producer. financial loss arising from any of twinning has been reported i...

We examined whether infrequent milk sampling for progesterone analysis could be used as a management or diagnostic tool by the dairy farmer to predict delayed ovarian cyclicity in dairy cows. The data included 1040 lactations from 324 Swedish Red cows and 183 Swedish Holstein cows and were randomly divided into two datasets. A logistic regression model was fit to the first dataset and the model...

Feeding practices, ration composition, and body condition scores (BCS) were assessed in an observational case-contrast study of Norwegian dairy herds with low (n = 98) and high (n = 94) mastitis infection rates. Differences between the 2 groups of herds were associated with feeding practices and amount of roughage. More herds in the low-infection group were fed a reduced amount of roughage at d...

In a previous study from 2014 it was found that US Holstein cows that gave birth to heifer calves produced more milk than cows having bull calves. We wanted to assess whether this is also true for Danish cattle. Data from 578 Danish Holstein herds were analysed with a mixed effect model and contrary to the findings in the US, we found that cows produced higher volumes of milk if they had a bull...

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...