The goal with sexed semen is to produce a calf of a specific sex. Sexed semen is widely available now and many dairy producers are using it to obtain more (and better) heifer calves. Because of its higher cost per dose of semen, combined with a reduced conception risk, sexed semen is primarily recommended for use in virgin heifers. The use of sexed semen varies widely among dairy producers. Som...

BACKGROUND Fasciola hepatica is a helminth parasite of global importance in livestock, with major economic impact. However information on F. hepatica infections in Irish pasture-based dairy herds is limited. Therefore this study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence, seasonality and management factors associated with F. hepatica. A total of 319 Irish dairy herds were selected for t...

this study was designed to investigate causes of culling in industrial dairy herds in fars province and to describe the pattern of reason-specific culling with respect to age of animal and interval from calving to culling. a total number of 9 dairy herds were selected for the study and information about culling reasons, birth date, last calving date and culling date was collected for culled cow...

Background: Fasciola hepatica is a helminth parasite of global importance in livestock, with major economic impact. However information on F. hepatica infections in Irish pasture-based dairy herds is limited. Therefore this study was conducted in order to determine the prevalence, seasonality and management factors associated with F. hepatica. A total of 319 Irish dairy herds were selected for ...

Between 2007 and 2009, the largest human Q fever epidemic ever described occurred in the Netherlands. The source was traced back to dairy goat farms, where abortion storms had been observed since 2005. Since one putative cause of these abortion storms is the intensive husbandry systems in which the goats are kept, the objective of this study was to assess whether these could be explained by her...

A simple random survey was conducted in Ireland during 2005 to estimate the ELISA-prevalence of paratuberculosis, commonly called Johne's disease (JD), in the cattle population. Serum samples were collected from all 20,322 females/breeding bulls over 12 months-of-age in 639 herds. All samples were tested using a commercially available absorbed ELISA. The overall prevalence of infected herds, ba...

The primary objective was to compare reported antimicrobial usage between conventional and organic dairy farms. A secondary objective was to contrast selected management characteristics of conventional and organic dairy herds. A questionnaire was administered on site to selected dairy farmers located in Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin. Organic herds (n = 32) were smaller and produc...

The objective of this study was to describe the incidence of papillomatous digital dermatitis in the US (including regional and herd size patterns) and to evaluate specific herd-level management factors associated with high incidence of digital dermatitis in US dairy herds. The study design was a population-based cross-sectional survey. US dairy operations with at least 30 cows in 20 states, re...

Introduction It is now widely recognised that reduced fertility in dairy herds is one of the most important factors affecting producer profitability. Roche (2006) has defined the effect of infertility on profitability as: (i) prolonged calving interval with fewer calves and less milk per cow; (ii) increased replacement costs; (iii) increased labour, semen and veterinary bills; and (iv) an exten...