Veterinary Visits Research Articles

Factors associated with use of prostaglandins in reproductive herd health programs for dairy cows

Summary Use of prostaglandin F2α products (pg) in dairy cows was studied by use of computerized reproductive herd health data compiled from 29 dairy herds in Minnesota and Wisconsin during 1983 through 1988. Treatment with pg was recorded in 1,856 of 7,139 (26.0%) complete lactations. More than 1 treatment with pg was administered in 534 of the 1,856 (28.8%) lactations in which pg were used. The proportion of lactations in which treatment was used varied among herds and years, and was associated with the proportion of cows in which natural breeding was attempted and, to a lesser extent, with estrus detection index and conception rates; these associations were potentially modified by time between veterinary herd health visits. Calving-to-treatment intervals (mean ± sd) were 100.4 ± 55.1 days for first treatments only, and 116.2 ± 66.1 days for all treatments. These values varied considerably among herds and years and among reasons for treatment. Much of the variation in proportions of lactations in which treatment was used and in the time of treatment within lactations could not be accounted for with the variables included in this study, and was probably related to individual considerations for each cow.

A Demonstration Project of Interdisciplinary Dairy Herd Extension Advising Funded by Industry and Users. 3. Impact on Management Practices1,2

The objectives of this 24-herd, demonstration project of integrated problem solving and extension advising were 1) to evaluate dairy production management practices, 2) to formulate recommendations for guiding producers to correct management deficiencies, and 3) to measure the rate of practice adoption. Management evaluations focused on herd nutrition and forage crops, mastitis control and milking equipment, reproduction, and herd health. Sixtyeight management practices or milking equipment components were evaluated on each farm. A total of 216 recommendations were made in nutrition and forage crops as follows: calf and heifer management, 89; forage crops, 73; dry cows, 26; lactating cows, 19; and general, 9. The least adopted suggestions for nutrition and crops were for forage crop management. A total of 283 recommendations were made in mastitis management or milking equipment as follows: milking practices, 90; milking equipment, 90; general mastitis control, 61; environment, 32; calf management, 9; and stray voltage, 1. Producers most resisted updating and maintaining milking equipment within the milking management area. Detection of estrus was the focus of reproductive management advising. A total of 80 practices were recommended as follows: one person responsible, 24; specific location, 24; specific time, 24; and regular veterinary visits, 10. Designation of a specific site was the least adopted of these recommendations. Overall, 419 of 581, or 72%, of all recommendations were adopted.

Management Risk Factors Associated with Calf Diarrhea in Michigan Dairy Herds

A study was conducted to examine the relationships between various dairy herd management practices and the monthly incidence density of calf diarrhea. The data were collected during a recent 2-yr prospective cohort study by the Michigan National Animal Health Monitoring System. The. data were statistically analyzed, and predictive models were developed. For herds with 10 to 49 adults cows, variables predicting an increase in the incidence of diarrhea in calves were number of young stock in the herd, incidence of respiratory disease in calves, and cumulative incidence of vaccinations for calves to prevent diarrheal disease. Increased numbers of routine veterinary visits to the farm were associated with decreased incidence of calf diarrhea. For herds with 50 to 99 adult cows, the positive predictor variable was incidence of respiratory disease in calves. Negative predictor variables were use of individual calving areas and removal of bedding between calvings. For herds with 100 to 199 adult cows, positive predictor variables were cumulative incidence of vaccinations for calves to prevent diarrheal disease and number of young stock in the herd. For herds with >200 adult cows, positive predictor variables were use of individual calving areas, number of routine veterinary visits to the farm, and incidence of respiratory disease in calves. These variables accounted for 13.1, 17.7, 7.4, and 64.2% of the variability in the incidence of calf diarrhea in the respective herd size groups.

Use of Milk Progesterone Samples for Complete Herd Oestrous Control

The most common cause of poor reproductive performance in the dairy herd is poor heat detection. It is impossible to separate heat detection from conception rate as accurate timing of service is certainly a requirement for the successful use of Artificial insemination. However many workers have shown that heat detection is much more closely related to reproductive performance than is conception rate.1,2
 Milk Progesterone Assays have been used for over 20 years to asses the stage of oestrous cycle in cattle.3 The first widespread application was for pregnancy diagnosis due to the fact that the method was by Radioimmunoassay (RIA) which involved centralised testing and a necessary time lag between sampling and results . The development of Enzyme-Immunoassay (EIA or ELISA systems) opened up the practical application of on site or "cow-side" testing and results.
 Use of the test for pregnancy diagnosis severely restricted the potential of the test as the accuracy was often poor. Use for the detection of oestrous and timing of insemination has brought many revolutionary changes.5 This paper examines a complete system of applying the test for oestrous detection and insemination in a commercial dairy herd and the implications for routine veterinary fertility visits.

Sintel

SINTEL is a veterinary dairy herd management program. It rests on a whole farm approach and it aims at improving the health status and increasing productivity and profitability of farms. It helps the veterinarian and the farmer to make annual strategic decisions, in order to correct the weak points underlined in the farm, and tactic decisions, at the time of regular veterinary visits, in order to quickly correct any error of herd management going against the laid down annual objectives. SINTEL can be considered as a decision-making aid. A whole list of parameters makes it possible to obtain a synthetic vision of the farm and to measure the evolution of the results of production and reproduction, of health status and economic results between two veterinary visits. The program is conceived in the form of unrolling menus and functions on all compatible computer IBM. SINTEL allows to develop the role of the veterinarian to advise in farm management.

Development of a microcomputer system for recording veterinary visits, preparing accounts, and as an aid to herd fertility and herd health schemes.

A computerised method of recording clinical information from farm animal practice visits and using it for herd fertility visits, herd health schemes, the investigation of disease outbreaks and as a source of data for epidemiological studies was developed in the University of Liverpool farm animal practice. The system stores clinical and reproductive information in a data base from which data can be readily extracted and analysed, and monthly bills produced.