Chippewa Veterinary Clinic
Dairy Herd Newsletter
May 1, 2008

Newsletter Survey Results

    Thus far, we have received 23 of the 100 Newsletter Surveys that were sent out. I was hoping to get at least 20, so we’re doing ok, but we would be happy to take any more that you may have filled out and not yet returned. The $120 per hour incentive will be good through May 31st, so please get your survey back to us before then. The majority of the returns were favorable, so we’ll continue to try to produce Newsletters that are worth reading. Thanks for your feedback!

Subclinical Endometritis

    In a recent article in the April 2008 issue of Dairy Herd Management, it was pointed out that 35 to 50% of cows between 35 and 60 days in milk have subclinical endometritis. Subclinical means it sneaks in under the radar…. it can’t be detected… but it’s there and it’s affecting cows’ fertility. These cows have normal discharge and will feel normal if palpated, but there is infection in the uterine wall and cows with subclinical endometritis end up being tougher to get settled (they have 40 more Days Open than non-affected cows). By 300 Days In Milk, 32% of cows with subclinical endometritis are still not yet confirmed pregnant as compared to 9% of cows without subclinical endometritis.

    So how do we prevent 35 to 50% of our fresh cows from developing this disease? It really just goes back to the basics of good animal husbandry. First, we have to have our fresh cows as healthy as possible at the time of calving. This means a transition diet that will maximize the ability of the cow’s immune system to fight off disease. Adequate Vitamin E and selenium for three weeks prior to calving is essential, as is having cows calve in the proper body condition.

    Having a clean environment in which to calve is an incredibly important point that is so often overlooked. During the calving process, cows and heifers are literally “wide open” to infection …. if she calves on clean dry bedding, the chance of endometritis is drastically reduced. It is also critical that people assisting with calvings know what they are doing. Overly aggressive assistance can be way worse than no help at all. There is a great website on bovine reproduction that can be easily accessed at http://www.drostproject.vetmed.ufl.edu/bovine/index.html This is a visual guide to bovine reproduction and may be a helpful review for anyone who helps with calvings. Unfortunately it is only in English, but it is a very good source of information.

    Finally, closely monitoring your fresh cows is absolutely essential. Close observation of attitude, appetite and posture will tell you a lot about how fresh cows are feeling. Do NOT rely solely on taking temperatures. Taking temperatures is only one very small part of the job of the person monitoring fresh cows. Cows can often have raging toxic metritis and not spike a fever. Treating endometritis is difficult and highly controversial. The old stand-by of using tetracycline boluses may not work as well as we once thought. Warm water flushes with mild antiseptics like chlorhexidine (Nolvasan) is very effective but labor intensive. Prostaglandin injections at 14 to 30 DIM is always a good approach to helping uterine involution and minimizing endometritis.

Newsletter Archives