The dairy industry in North America has changed dramatically with a trend in direction of larger herds and higher production per cow, which seems to be associated with a decrease in fertility, especially a decrease in conception rates and extension of calving intervals (Butler, 2000; Lucy, 2001; Stevenson, 2001) This decline in fertility of lactating dairy cows is observed not only in North Ame...

The relatively new movement of artificial insemination (A.I.) is producing a mass of documented breeding information for bovines which is unique. In England and Wales there are this year more than 40,000 herds of cows that are being inseminated and for which individual cow and herd conception-rates are kept. In addition, semen collections are being taken, on the average weekly, from about 450 b...

Genetic variation in estrus traits derived from hourly measurements by electronic activity tags was studied in an experimental herd of Holstein (n = 211), Jersey (n = 126), and Red Dane (n = 178) cows. Both virgin heifers (n = 132) and lactating cows in the first 4 parities (n = 895 cow parities) were used, giving a total of 3,284 high-activity episodes indicating estrus. The first estrus after...

The present article aims to ‘translate’ the current – mostly theoretical – knowledge on fertility disorders in modern high yielding dairy cows, towards the actual situation in the stable with a main emphasis on the resumption of the ovarian activity after calving. While some detailed research has recently been done at our department to elucidate the association between a high level of milk prod...

Dairy cows mobilise body tissues to support milk production and, because glucose supplies are limited, lipids are used preferentially for energy production. Lipogenic activity is switched off and lipolytic mechanisms in adipose tissue increase through changes in the expression of several key enzymes. This results in a loss of body condition, together with high circulating concentrations of non-...

In this study, the effects of integrated farming system on residue recycling and soil quality in rice-based systems have been examined. The effective nutrient budget for nitrogen was found higher with rice-fishpoultry- cowpea negative values were obtained rice-chili rice-baby corn systems. However, budgets phosphorus potassium all these cropping results indicated that, about ten tonnes organic ...

The high producing dairy cow of the 21st century is subfertile during lactation. Our objectives are to characterize physiological periods limiting reproductive performance and to describe integrated management strategies to improve pregnancy rates. Ovarian recrudescence with normal re-occurring estrous cycles and restoration of fertility to first service are associated with a reduced occurrence...

Poor fertility has become a major reason for involuntary culling of dairy cows in the UK. Research in the UK has recently developed a Fertility Index for dairy cattle. After examining national data it was decided that fertility proofs in the UK would be based on calving interval (CI) and non-return rate after 56 days (NR56) weighted by their relative economic weights (independent of culling). S...

This paper describes a cost effective Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology for monitoring the health of dairy cows. By monitoring and understanding the cow individual and herd behaviour, farmers can potentially identify the onset of illness, lameness or other undesirable health conditions. However, the WSN implementation needs to cope with various technical challenges before it can be suita...