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The manager of a large dairy herd (total confinement, total mixed ration feeding, 10130 kg milk sold per cow and year) requested a workup of a digestive disorder problem that had been ongoing for several years. The cows were at all stages of lactation, and the incidence proportion (events/100 cows at risk) of digestive disorders was approximately 5 to 10%. The clinical picture included an abnormal demeanor of varying severity and signs that differed among the cows. The latter included decreased milk production and physical activity, low body condition score, abnormal rumen motility and stratification, small intestinal dilatation, diarrhea, undigested fiber particles in the feces, fever and abdominal pain.The following approach was used to investigate the digestive disorder problem:1. The herd was assessed for production levels, housing requirements, feeding protocols and animal health management. The latter comprised evaluation of different animal scores, metabolic profile analysis, diagnosis of disease, culling records and slaughter data. The results revealed risk factors concerning the feeding and animal health monitoring, (e. g. in dry matter intake and silage quality management, disease detection and diagnosis in fresh cows). The assessment also identified a high occurrence of digestive disorders of unknown origin.2. Fifteen cows that represented the ongoing digestive disorder problem were selected to undergo clinical examination, hematological analysis, urinalysis, and ultrasonography of the ventral abdomen. The clinical examinations revealed different digestive disorders, which were mainly inflammatory in nature, in all the cows. Eight cows had localized reticuloperitonitis and 13 had left displaced abomasum with different degrees of displacement and adhesions between the abomasum and reticulum attributable to reticuloperitonitis.Our results revealed a multifactorial problem caused by several risk factors relating to animal health and feeding management protocols that resulted in different types of digestive disorders. The wires from damaged tires used to hold the pit silo tarps in place were identified as a possible traumatic cause of the reticuloperitonitis. Treatment, prevention and follow-up of the different conditions were discussed.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the use of hand-powered vacuum pumps and the suspension by the hind legs within the scope of resuscitating newborn dystocial calves.

Material and methods: For this study, data were collected from 60 dystocial calves of different breeds. Various reanimation methods were employed to these calves immediately after birth. In group I (n=20), the hand-powered vacuum pump from HK-Rheintechnik (Neuwied, Deutschland) was used to remove mucus and amniotic fluid from the respiratory tract. In group II (n=20), the McCulloch Medical (Elmwood, England) hand-powered vacuum pump was used to remove mucus and amniotic fluid from the respiratory tract. In group III (n=20) 10 to 12 liters of cold water were poured over the neck of 20 calves immediately after birth. In addition, the calves were suspended by the hind legs via a gate or a pole, so that the head hung downwards vertically. The calves' Time to Sternal Recumbency (T-SR) of the calves was measured following the different resuscitation procedures in order to assess their vitality. In addition, the calves were examined segmentally at one-hour post natum. Furthermore, the calves were examined clinically on the seventh day of life. In addition, we investigated whether confounding variables such as calf sex, dam parity, obstetric intervention, and the season affected T-SR.

Results: T-SR ranged from 1.5 to 10.5 minutes. There was no difference between the three initial treatment procedures (p=0.07). However, the T-SR of calves treated with a hand-powered vacuum pump tended to be shorter. No statistically significant difference between the pulse rates (p=0.73), respiratory rates (p=0.13), and rectal temperature (p=0.65) of the animals in the three groups on the first and seventh day of life was evident. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of the diseases up to the seventh day of life between the individual study groups.

Conclusion and clinical relevance: The present study was able to show that the use of hand-powered vacuum pumps is at least equivalent to suspending calves. When using hand-powered vacuum pumps, the girth of the muzzle must be taken into account, as this can limit their utility.

Subject and aim: In the literature, various methods aiming for a promotion of uterine involution and ovarian function in post-partum dairy cattle have been described. Recently, successful use of equine choriongonadotropin (eCG) in this context has been repeatedly reported, while other studies have failed to demonstrate positive effects of eCG administration on puerperal involution in cows. Due to the contradictory results described in the literature, the aim of this field study was to verify whether the administration of eCG on day 10 post-partum exerts a positive effect on uterine involution, ovarian activity and fertility indices in Simmental cows.

Material and methods: In nine dairy farms, 205 Simmental cows were divided by lot into three groups: Group 1 animals received 500 I.U. eCG, group 2 received 50 µg gonadorelin, and group 3 animals received 250 mg butafosfan and 125 µg cyanocobalamin (control group). Treatment was administered on day 10 post-partum in each case. The animals were examined clinically and ultrasonographically on the 10th, 25th and 42nd day post-partum and the time to insemination and pregnancy were recorded. Group comparison with respect to the recorded parameters was initially performed without considering confounding factors by analysis of variance. In the second step, potential influencing variables (lactation, milk yield, change in backfat thickness, retentio secundarium and serverity of the obstetric intervention) were taken into account, as well as the combination of the random factors "farm" and "individual animal within the farm".

Results: The administration of eCG exhibited no significant effect on uterine involution, however, the cervical involution was influenced significantly. In the group of cows with eCG treatment, ovarian cysts were detected significantly more frequently on day 25 post-partum (p=0.04). This difference did not persist on the 42nd day post-partum. Neither voluntary waiting period nor the days open were significantly shortened by eCG administration. Lactation number showed a significant effect on uterine involution. Heifers exhibited more rapid involution by day 42 post-partum than cows.

Conclusion: Administration of eCG in Simmentaler cows at day 10 post-partum showed no positive effect.

Clinical relevance: The use of eCG in early puerperium to promote fertility in the cow should be avoided.

Objective: In dairy cattle, numerous factors determine the success of an insemination. The aim of the present study was to generate findings concerning the association between the preovulatory follicles, the corpora lutea with or without cavities and pregnancy in dairy cows under field conditions.

Material and methods: Data was obtained from 176 dairy cows scheduled for artificial insemination. The cows were gynecologically examined using sonography at the time of insemination, 24 hours later, on day 9, on day 34 and after day 42 after insemination. Additionally, blood samples were collected from the coccygeal vein at the time of insemination and on day 9 in order to determine blood progesterone level.

Results: Depending on the result of the pregnancy test, no difference was detected between the dimensions of the follicles, corpora lutea as well as their cavities and progesterone levels 9 days after insemination in the dairy cows with spontaneous ovulations. In contrast to the corpus luteum without cavity, the surface area of the corpus luteum with cavity remained constant during the study period, while at the same time the cavity decreased in size to a significant degree. In addition, breed differences in corpus luteum sizes were detected on day 34.

Conclusion: No cause was detected for the formation of cavities in corpora lutea and there was no link to the follicle from which the corpus luteum developed.

Clinical relevance: Both the changes in corpus luteum sizes over time and their breed-related differences could have an impact on insemination outcome.

A massive outbreak of exudative epidermitis (EE) occurred on a Western German piglet producing farm with 350 productive sows. Gilts are produced on site. In one group of piglets, more than 50% of suckling and nursery piglets were clinically affected; furthermore, gilts as well as sows showed localized blackish-squamous skin lesions in the neck area. Generalized infection in suckling and nursery piglets resulted in mortality rates of up to 10% per weaning group. Swabs of moist, affected areas of skin taken on the farm in addition to swab and organ samples collected during necropsy were examined via bacterial cultivation. Both Staphylococcus (St.) hyicus and St. chromogenes strains were detected in affected skin lesions, with St. hyicus also present in systemic localizations. Further characterization of the St. hyicus strains identified ExhA and SHETA as toxins involved, and isolates showed resistance to penicillin and aminopenicillin. In the short term, antibiotic treatment with trimethoprim-sulfadiazine of the whole age group combined with individual treatment of severely affected animals as well as washing with an iodine-containing solution improved the clinical signs. In order to reduce the antibiotic use, an autogenous vaccine against the isolated St. hyicus and St. chromogenes strains for gilts and sows was produced and applied as a basic immunization twice before farrowing. In addition, external and internal biosecurity was evaluated and adjusted using an objective questionnaire (Bio-check.UGent^TM). The combination of taken measures resulted in a long-term improvement of the overall health status. Several months after the severe EE outbreak, the sporadic occurrence of new EE cases in individual piglets could be controlled by the adjustment of the autogenous vaccine with an additional St. hyicus isolate. The case report illustrates how the combination of continuous monitoring, individual and group antibiotic treatment, biosecurity evaluation, and the use of appropriate immune prophylaxis can improve the clinical picture of EE.