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J Vet Sci. 2007 Sep;8(3):283-288 |
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Pregnancy loss in dairy cows: the contributing factors, the effects on reproductive performance and the economic impact
Je-In Lee, Ill-Hwa Kim* |
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College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 361-763, Korea
* illhwa@cbu.ac.kr |
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This study investigated the effects of the herd, cow
parity, the insemination protocol and season on the incidence
of pregnancy loss (PL) in dairy herds. Furthermore, we
determined the downstream effects of PL on reproductive
performance and its economic impact. The overall
incidence rate of PL was 6.9% in 1,001 pregnant cows and
its incidence peaked (p < 0.01) during the second trimester
of gestation. GLIMMIX analysis revealed that cow parity
was the important risk factor for the PL. The odds ratio
showed that the likelihood of PL in cows with parities of 1
or 2 was decreased by 0.6 or 0.5 fold compared to the cows
with a parity of 3 or higher. Following PL, the mean rate
of endometritis was 23.2% and endometritis was more
common (p < 0.05) when PL occurred during the third
trimester than during the first and second trimesters. The
mean culling rate was 46.4% and this did not differ with
the period of PL. The overall mean intervals from PL to
the first service and conception were 63.4 and 101.8 days,
respectively. The mean interval from PL to first service
was longer (p < 0.01) for cows with PL during the third
trimester than for the cows with PL during the first and
second trimesters. The economic loss resulting from each
PL was estimated at approximately $2,333, and this was
largely due to an extended calving interval and increased
culling. These results suggest that cow parity affects the
incidence of PL, which extends calving interval and causes
severe economic loss of dairy herds.
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