In the Alps, summer farms are temporary units where the livestock herds are moved during summer to graze on highland pastures. Th is study aimed to analyze the role of summer farms in the dairy farming systems of the Trento province, in the eastern Italian Alps. Data on the structures and management of the 395 active summer farms were collected from the veterinarian services of the province: 34...

California dairies house approximately 1.8 million lactating and 1.5 million dry cows and heifers. State air regulatory agencies view these dairies as a major air pollutant source, but emissions data are sparse, particularly for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The objective of this work was to determine VOC emissions from lactating and dry dairy cows and their waste using an environmental ch...

1 Dept of Medicine Animal, Production and Health Padova Univ., Agripolis, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico delle Venezie, Viale dell’Università, 10, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy ABSTRACT The study aimed at evaluating the effect of a daily dose of 14 g of choline administrated by using soy lecithins (LC group), a by-product of the biodiesel production ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ruminally protected amino acids (RPAAs) and ruminally protected fat (RPF) supplementation on ruminal fermentation characteristics (in vitro) and milk yield and milk composition (in vivo). Fourteen mid-lactating Holstein dairy cows (mean weight 653±62.59 kg) were divided into two groups according to mean milk yield and number of days of p...

The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of somatic cell count (SCC) thresholds to identify subclinical mastitis in Gyr cows caused by major and minor pathogens; (2) to study the effects of month of sampling, rear or front mammary quarters, herd, intramammary infection (IMI), and bacterial species on SCC at quarter level; and (3) to describe t...

The work aimed at determining to what degree cattle herds were threatened with selenium deficiency on the basis of the concentration of this element in soil, feeds, and the blood serum of dry and lactating cows (in the 2, 4, and 6 week of drying, and in the 2, 4, and 6 week of lactation, respectively). The analysis of cow’s body supply with selenium showed that selected dairy cattle farms in th...

I . The plasma levels of individual amino acids were studied in dairy cows under different conditions of production and energy nutrition. 2. A preliminary experiment was conducted which established that there was no regular change in amino acid levels with time of sampling in animals offered food twice daily at milking. 3. For animals in the 8th month of pregnancy plasma concentrations of lysin...

Premature disposal of female calves before reaching milch herd and undesirable disposal of lactating cows are the major constraints in achieving larger herd size. During the early lactations, younger cows are supposed to give higher milk yield and undesirable disposal of early calvers, thereby, greatly hampers profitability of a dairy farm. Knowledge of the incidence of disposal along with reas...

Five multiparous, ruminally cannulated Holstein cows (two lactating and three dry) weighing (X +/- SD) 667 +/- 35 kg were used to study the effect of abomasal purine infusion on the excretion of purine derivatives. Cows were fed corn silage four times daily at 90% of ad libitum intake (X = 9.16 kg of dry matter/d). Purines were infused into the abomasum as brewer's yeast suspensions in five inc...

Dairy cows are often fed a high-concentrate (HC) diet to meet lactation demands; however, long-term concentrate feeding is unhealthy and decreases milk fat. Therefore, we investigated the effects of liver lipid metabolism on milk fat synthesis. Ten lactating Holstein cows were assigned randomly into HC and LC (low-concentrate) diet groups. After 20 weeks of feeding, milk fat declined, and lipop...