APPLIEDSCIENCE By Colin Palmer Bottom line impact Detecting and treating a common post-calving disorder could boost your herd’s reproductive performance serious post-calving condition that commonly goes unnoticed could be costing you more than the combined losses from better known complications of a dairy cow’s uterus. Endometritis, usually occurring between three and 12 weeks after calving, is an inflammation of the uterine lining, or endometrium. Although some infect- A ed cows may have a yellowish discharge hanging from their vulvas, most look just as healthy as unaffected herd mates. Perhaps surprisingly, the economic cost of endometritis is more substantial than the combined impact of other two better known conditions— retained placenta and metritis. Reported losses include increased- number of days open, more services per conception and greater risk of culling due to reproductive failure. A 1990s’ study pegged these losses to the U.S. dairy industry at $1 billion annually. Actual costs to the Canadian dairy industry are unknown, but believed to be substantial. Considerable attention has been given to studying endometritis, Often unnoticed, endometritis can keep cows from being successfully rebred. 40 | September 2009 | MilkPRODUCER
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - September 2009