Effective Postpartum Follow-up Management Strategy Improves Reproductive Performance in Dairy Cows

Abstract

The present study was conducted on Karan Fries cows (n=100) to see the effect of postpartum health monitoring strategy on reproductive performance. Sixty freshly calved cows were monitored for any abnormal health, rectal temperature was recorded daily for 7 days, and febrile cows (> 103°F) were treated with systemic antibiotics and then re-examined at 10-15 days postpartum and again on the 30^th day postpartum, i.e., “postpartum follow-up management strategy”. While 40 cows were kept as controls, the cows with clinically abnormal health were treated only as per farm standards. Rectal temperature of febrile cows reduced significantly on day 1 and day 2 following antibiotic treatment (104.04±0.20 vs. 102.43±0.25 and 102.06±0.33℉, p<0.001). In the ‘follow-up’ group, mean days to first insemination and days open reduced by 28.6 and 38.7 days, respectively, compared to the control group (p<0.05). However, the first service (55.0 vs. 47.5%) and overall service (68.34 vs. 70%) conception rates were similar between the ‘follow-up’ and control group (p>0.05). It may be concluded that the “postpartum follow-up” management strategy improved the reproduction efficiency, particularly days to first insemination and days open in crossbred cows.