We compared diurnal patterns of vaginal temperature in lactating cows under grazing conditions to evaluate genotype effects on body temperature regulation. Genotypes evaluated were Holstein, Jersey, Jersey x Holstein and Swedish Red x Holstein. The comparison of Holstein and Jersey versus Jersey x Holstein provided a test of whether heterosis effects body temperature regulation. Cows were fitte...

There are several different milking management systems in Latin America, because Gir cattle are reputed to be easily stressed and not well adapted to machine-milking. This paper, therefore, provides an overview of hormone release and behavior during suckling and milking in Gir cows and their cross-bred offspring. Several experiments were performed to study oxytocin release during exclusive suck...

The objective of this study was to evaluate feces, urine, and N excretion by Jersey and Holstein cows. Sixteen multiparous cows (n=8 per breed) were fed 2 experimental rations at calving in a switchback experimental design. Diets were 50% forage and based on corn meal (control) or whole cottonseed. Half the cows in each breed started on the control diet and half started on the whole cottonseed ...

Variace / covariance components of 227118 first lactaiom test-day milk yield records belonged to 31258 Iranian Holstein cows were estimated using nine random regression models. Afterwards, different measures of persistency based on estimation breeding value were evaluated. Three functions were used to adjust fixed lactation curve: Ali and Schaeffer (AS), quadratic (LE3) and cubic (LE4) order of...

Serotonin is known to regulate energy and calcium homeostasis in several mammalian species. The objective of this study was to determine if pre-partum infusions of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), the immediate precursor to serotonin synthesis, could modulate energy homeostasis at the level of the hepatocyte in post-partum Holstein and Jersey dairy cows. Twelve multiparous Holstein cows and twelve ...

The present on-farm research evaluated the occurrence of fatty liver syndrome and its predisposing risk factors for multiparous dairy cows from a commercial herd in Venezuela. Liver biopsy samples were collected at 35 days (d) prepartum (Holstein, n = 14; Holstein × Carora crossbred, n = 17) as well as 1 to 7 d (Holstein, n = 8; Holstein × Carora crossbred, n = 11) and 28 to 35 d (Holstein, n =...

Mastitis is one of the most prevalent diseases of cattle. Various studies have reported breed-dependent differences in the risk for developing this disease. Among two major breeds, Jersey cows have been identified as having a lower prevalence of mastitis than Holstein cows. It is well established that the nature of the initial innate immune response to infection influences the ability of the ho...

Beef derived from Holstein steers is a significant source of the U.S. beef supply. The nation’s 9.1 million dairy cows in 2003 were 22% of the U.S. cow herd (NASS, 2005). Given the typical breed distribution of dairy cows, calving interval, full-term pregnancy rate, peri-natal calf death loss (NAHMS, 2002), gender distribution, dairy beef placement (80%) and survival to market (94%), it can be ...

Background: Genetic polymorphism of milk proteins has been associated with composition, manufacture, and traits of milk. Caseins are the most important milk proteins whose genes are strongly linked and inherited as a raceme. κ-casein which is a quantitatively minor constituent of bovine milk is thought to play a critical role in organization, fixation and aggregation of casein micelles and firm...