Diagnosing infertility in a dairy herd

Abstract

This project was begun in August, 1985 on a dairy herd in Northwest Ohio. This herd was experiencing reproductive problems characterized by the dairyman as follows: 1) high incidence of metritis, 2) long interval to first estrus, 3) poor conception rates, and 4) a high number of repeat breeders. A second complaint was of a high incidence of an acute febrile disease in cows one to three day post-partum characterized by a mucous nasal discharge, dyspnea, anorexia, and diarrhea. The condition appeared to be unresponsive to antibiotic therapy and ran its course in 7 to 10 days. In an attempt to define the etiology of the problems, a complete herd work-up was initiated which included: 1) history, 2) physical and reproductive examinations, 3) nutritional evaluation, 4) laboratory diagnostics, and 5) herd health record analysis.