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Dr. Reuben Mapletoft, professor in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences of the University of Saskatchewan, Canada was invited to the X International Symposium of Animal reproduction, Cordoba, Argentina to speak about Recent Developments in Timed Artificial Insemination in Beef Cattle....
It is difficult to present scientifically defensible definitions and specifications for what constitutes "cow comfort", but there is no doubt those good managers "know it when they see it".
Today's dairy cow may face a wide variety of environmental stressors. These may include heat stress, overcrowding, infectious challenge, poor ventilation, poor footing, uncomfortable stalls, poor management of grouping and cow movement, and rough handling. The effects...
Introduction The many hormones, growth factors and cell types involved in bovine mammary gland development and lactation make the elucidation of their roles difficult; a representative in vitro model of lactation would help in this regard. Previously we have isolated a mammary epithelial cell (MEC) clonal line that can undergo three-dimensional morphological and functional differentiation when cultured on a reconstituted basement membrane (McConochie et al., 2004). However, the...
The changing trends in animal production require the owner/manager to become more efficient in all aspects of the production cycle. Major contributors to economic returns include reproduction and nutritional management of the herd. While both of these issues are important in their own right, recent data indicate substantial interrelationships between them. To maintain high milk output cows should give birth at shortest possible intervals, which means that there is a very tight schedule,...
In our Country, which has poor dairy cow genetics and demand of milk is continuously increasing day by day, what should be the best way to improve breed within minimum time? Because in some countries like India where there is complete ban on animal import, is it enough to go through Artificial Insemination using imported frozen semen only? ...
Specific Causes of Reproductive Failure Fertility in cattle has many pre-requisites and components, which require males and females to be functionally capable of reaching the last step, the birth of a normal, vital calf, thus defining the general breeding goal: cows should return to normal ciclicity early postpartum, show strong and regular estrous signs, conceive after AI, carry their pregnancy to term, calve easily and give birth to viable and...
Breeding efficiency is directly related to the prosperity of dairy industry. Infertility among dairy farm animals is one of the great economic problems which confront the vets. It is particularly wide spread in cattle and buffaloes (Yadav et al., 1991). The case of infertility are numerous, varied and complicated hence so many factors are concerned in successful reproduction. Delayed maturity and infertility in heifer, cattle and buffaloes are the major...
Pakistan is endowed with a wide diversity of sheep and goat genetic resources, which form the backbone of its rural livelihood security systems. The purpose of small ruminant raising is to produce quality meat to fulfill the demand of meat consumption. At present, there are 61.5 million goats and 28.1 million sheep in Pakistan, together they account for over 616 thousand tones of mutton and 795 thousand tones of milk production annually in the country. Small...
Background Since the initial development of in vitro embryo production, the technique has been applied successfully to many species for clinical, commercial, and research purposes. In the early days, it was common practice to supplement culture media with serum to support embryo development in many species. But subsequently, serum has been associated with fetal overgrowth in ruminants to give the so-called Large Offspring Syndrome at birth [1]. In cattle, serum supplementation...
Introduction Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) is a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) superfamily, which controls numerous events of embryonic, fetal and even adult development in vertebrates (Chen et al., 2004). Several BMPs have been suggested as autocrine/ paracrine regulators of bovine ovarian follicular development, demonstrated by the expression of BMP4 and BMP7 in granulosa and theca cells (Glister et al., 2011). During the follicular...
Introduction In non-ruminants, the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) play a crucial role in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and inflammatory responses [1]. The PPAR family is composed of three subtypes: PPAR-gamma (PPARG), PPAR-alpha (PPARA), and PPARδ/β (PPARD), among which the expression of PPARG and PPARA subtypes are associated with adipogenesis/lipogenesis and catabolism of fatty...
Introduction The peripartal or “transition” period in taurine cattle is considered the most important phase of the lactation cycle because during this time animals are most-susceptible to metabolic or infectious disorders (Drackley 1999; Van Knegsel et al. 2014). The immune and innate host resistance mechanisms (Mallard et al. 1998) are impaired during the peripartal period, often rendering cows unable to...
Introduction The liver performs essential functions in mammals. These include, but are not limited to, gluconeogenesis and glycogen synthesis, synthesis of several plasma proteins encompassing clotting factors and acute phase proteins (APP) (e.g., haptoglobin, albumin, and fibrinogen), metabolism of amino acids and lipids, and detoxification including ammonia removal [1,2]. During the period around parturition in dairy...
Introduction The transcriptome is the momentary sum of all DNA transcribed in a cell. Classically, the transcriptome included the measurement of each of the ribosomal RNA, messenger RNA (mRNA), and transfer RNA. These include a relatively small portion of the whole genome.1 The rest of the DNA was considered, until recently, not to be transcribed.1 The accumulation of data in the last decade or so has provided vast...
Background Cows around calving time experience a depression on immune function partially due to the marked negative energy balance (NEB), which results when cows cannot ingest enough nutrients to support dietary requirements for milk production. During this time, methionine (Met) as one of the first limiting AA in dairy cows may be in limited supply. Research has demonstrated that Met plays a key role in milk protein...
Introduction Dairy farming is a highly dynamic and integrated production system that requires continuous and intense decision-making for improved profitability. Several dairy farm components that include 1) cattle, 2) crops, 3) soils, 4) weather, 5) management, 6) economics, and 7) environment are extremely interrelated [1]. These components and their sub-components dynamically affect and are affected among them. Their...
Introduction During early lactation (i.e. the first 60 days of lactation), the massive repartition of nutrients to the mammary gland for milk synthesis has been identified as a major contributor to the high risk of developing diseases [1]. This repartition of energy toward the mammary gland is not compensated via feed intake, that is also reaching a nadir during early lactation [1]. The requirement of energy and nutrients...
Background Previous research has underscored that provision of adequate levels of essential AA (EAA) is critical for improving N utilization efficiency as well as maximizing bovine milk protein synthesis [1]. Rulquin et al. [2] proposed “ideal” values for intestinal absorption of EAA in dairy cows; however, after absorption, AA flow first to the liver where substantial and differential net removal occurs...
Introduction Lameness is one of the most important welfare issues of high-producing dairy cows in North America [1]. The latter has been attributed to management and environmental factors [2] as well as physiologic adaptations such as postpartal negative energy balance, which can lead cows to excessive loss of body condition (BCS) [3]. Postpartal negative energy balance can be exacerbated by prepartal high-energy diets,...