Eighty-four Holstein cows were utilized to evaluate effects of dry period (60 d vs. 30 d), with or without estradiol cypionate (ECP) injections to accelerate mammary involution, on prepartum and postpartum dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), and subsequent milk yield (MY). Treatments were arranged in a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design that included dry period (30 d dry, 30 d dry + ECP, and 60 d dry), prepartum and postpartum bovine somatotropin (bST; 10.2 mg/d), and prepartum anionic or cationic diets. To accelerate mammary involution, ECP (15 mg) was injected intramuscularly at dry-off. No interaction of bST or prepartum diet with dry period length was detected on BW, BCS, or MY. No significant effects of dry period length on prepartum DMI, BW, or BCS were detected. Cows with shorter dry periods maintained postpartum BCS better and tended to have greater DMI immediately postpartum. Mean daily yields of milk for dry period groups did not differ during overall lactation period (1 to 21 wk). Injection of ECP at the onset of the 30-d dry period did not affect MY. No significant differences due to dry period length were detected for milk, 3.5% FCM, or SCM yields during first 10 wk of lactation. Data indicated that a short dry period protocol can be used as a management tool with no loss in the subsequent milk production of dairy cows.

The objectives of this experiment were to determine whether low doses of bovine somatotropin (bST) during the transition period and early lactation period improved dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), or body condition score (BCS); provoked positive changes in concentrations of somatotropin, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), glucose, nonesterified fatty acids, and Ca; or improved milk yield (MY) response without obvious adverse effects on health status. Eighty-four multiparous Holstein cows completed treatments arranged in a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial design that included prepartum and postpartum bST, dry period (30 d dry, 30 d dry + estradiol cypionate, and 60 d dry), and prepartum anionic or cationic diets. Biweekly injections of bST began at 21 +/- 3 d before expected calving date through 42 +/- 2 d postpartum (control = 0 vs. bST = 10.2 mg of bST/d; POSILAC). At 56 +/- 2 d in milk, all cows were injected with a full dose of bST (500 mg of bST/14 d; POSILAC). During the prepartum period and during the first 28 d postpartum, no differences in mean BW, BCS, or DMI were detected between the bST treatment group and the control group. During the first 10 wk of lactation, cows in the bST treatment group had greater mean MY and 3.5% fat-corrected milk yield and lower SCC than did cows in the control group. When cows received a full dose of bST, an increase in milk production through wk 21 was maintained better by cows in the bST group. Mean concentrations of somatotropin, IGF-I, and insulin differed during the overall prepartum period (d -21 to -1). During the postpartum period (d 1 to 28), cows in the bST group had greater mean concentrations of somatotropin and IGF-I in plasma. Concentrations of Ca around calving did not differ because of bST treatment. Results suggest that changes in concentrations of blood measures provoked by injections of bST during the transition period and early lactation period resulted in improved metabolic status and production of the cows without apparent positive or negative effects on calving or health.

The objective of this study was to use a within-cow, half-udder model to compare the effect of cessation of milk removal from mammary quarters within respective half udders at either 30 or 70 d before expected calving date (ECD) on the ability of the half udders to subsequently produce milk. Pregnant Holstein cows were assigned to control (n = 14) or treatment (TRT, n = 26) groups. All mammary quarters in the udder of cows in the control group had 70-d (68 +/- 9 d) dry periods, whereas in each cow of the TRT group, 1 randomly selected half udder was dried at 70 d before ECD and the other half udder continued to be milked twice daily until dried at 30 d before ECD. From 80 through 70 d before ECD, amounts of milk produced by the left and right half udders of cows in the TRT group were measured at the first-shift milking. No differences were detected in the actual or relative amounts of milk produced by the left (3.46 +/- 0.2 kg; 48.8 +/- 1.0%) and the right (3.63 +/- 0.2 kg; 51.2 +/- 1.0%) half udders. Furthermore, the actual and relative amounts of milk produced by the half udders (n = 12 left, 14 right) subsequently dry for 67 +/- 7 d (3.56 +/- 0.2 kg; 50.2 +/- 1.0%) and the half udders (n = 14 left, 12 right) subsequently dry for 27 +/- 7 d (3.54 +/- 0.2 kg; 49.8 +/- 1.0%) did not differ before they were dried. However, from 3 to 100 d of the subsequent lactation, the 30-d dry half udders produced 18.9% less milk than the 70-d dry half udders (16.3 vs. 20.1 +/- 1.0 kg/d). In addition, relative amounts of total-udder milk produced by the 30- and 70-d dry half udders in the same cow differed (44.9 vs. 55.1 +/- 0.2%, respectively). Cows in the control group produced more milk than cows in the TRT group through 80 DIM (39.5 vs. 35.2 +/- 0.6 kg/d), but not from 3 through 150 DIM (39.0 vs. 36.2 +/- 1.6 kg/d). Thus, half udders that produced the same actual and relative amounts of milk before being dried did not do so when given a 30-d dry period instead of a 70-d dry period. When compared with the pre-dry value (49.8%), the relative contribution of half udders dry for 30 d to the total milk yield during the first 100 DIM was decreased by 9.8%.

Objectives were to evaluate the effects of a low dose of bovine somatotropin (bST) injected prepartum and postpartum on body condition score (BCS), body weight (BW), and milk yield (MY) in cows as well as somatotropin insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), glucose, and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) in plasma. Holstein cows nearing second or later parities were assigned randomly to control (CON = 98) or bST-treated (TRT = 95) groups. Biweekly injections of bST began 21 +/- 3 d before expected calving and continued through 42 d postpartum (CON vs. TRT; 0 vs. 10.2 mg of bST/ d). From 42 to 100 d postpartum, no cows received bST. During yr 1, somatotropin, IGF-I, insulin, NEFA, and glucose were measured in plasma samples from 82 cows. During yr 2, effects of bST on BCS and BW of 111 cows were evaluated, but no blood samples were collected. Milk yields through 100 d of all 193 cows were analyzed. Prepartum treatment with bST resulted in greater prepartum plasma concentrations of somatotropin, insulin, and numerically greater NEFA but did not affect glucose or IGF-I. Postpartum bST increased mean plasma concentrations of somatotropin and NEFA, but not INS, IGF-I, or glucose. Mean BCS of cows did not differ prepartum, around parturition, or postpartum. Although mean BW did not differ prepartum or around calving, cows receiving bST maintained greater BW postpartum. Cows receiving bST tended to have higher MY (6.6%) in the first 60 d of lactation, but differences did not persist through 100 d, including approximately 40 d when no cows received bST. Number of cows that were culled due to health (CON = 3 vs. TRT = 2) or died (CON = 3 vs. TRT = 1) were not affected by treatment. Low doses of bST in the transition period resulted in higher postpartum BW, quicker recovery of body condition during lactation, and significantly more milk during treatment.

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