Effects of Removing Cows from Chronic Oxytocin Use During Lactation

Abstract

 It is a relatively common practice on dairy farms to administer oxytocin i.m. to cows with poor milk let down at the time of milking. This practice is often perpetuated throughout a cow's lactation because of the fear that once a cow is started on oxytocin she will be so addicted that upon removal she will develop udder problems or drop considerably in milk production. Oxytocin is approved for use in milk let down but not labeled for use to increase production. If cows are started on oxytocin for poor let down but are kept on for fear of loss of production this could be construed as extra label use. The objective of this study was to test the effect of several different methods of removing cows from chronic oxytocin treatment during lactation.