Disease frequencies in Swedish dairy cows. I. Dystocia

Perspectives of fetal dystocia in cattle and buffalo

“…18,19,21,28,34 In addition, gestations with male calves are longer, which also influences the risk of dystocia. 68 Holstein male calves had a 40.0% higher incidence of dystocia.…”

“…Because EPDs are not comparable across breeds, selection of a sire on the basis of a low or negative EPD for birth weight may not be reliable if the heifer and sire are of different breeds. 46 A few studies have observed that a large number of sires of two beef breeds (Charolais and Simmental) [29][30][31]34 and one dairy breed (Holstein) 3,18,33 contributed to an increased incidence of dystocia due to heavy birth weight of their calves, whereas Angus and Jersey breed sires reduce the incidence of dystocia due to lower calf birth weights. 31,55 A comparatively novel aspect of fetal oversize is the large offspring syndrome in which a calf is the result of in vitro embryo production technologies.…”

“…[26][27][28] A large number of risk factors for dystocia have been identified. 2,4 It has also been recognized that the introduction of large sized beef bulls like Charolais and Simmental 10,21,[29][30][31] and the Holstein Friesian bulls in dairy cows 18,32,33 has resulted in an increased incidence of dystocia, probably due to an increase in the body weight of the calf and the change in its shape. Such effects have not been documented for buffalo.…”

“…15 These anatomical differences mean that the first and second stages of labor in the buffalo can easily be completed within 20-70 min. 14,16,17 The causes of dystocia have been described from a number of perspectives; either based on analysis of a large number of calving records in dairy 8,[18][19][20] and beef cows 9,10,21,22 or on the basis of clinical findings. [23][24][25] Most reports of buffalo come from clinical data.…”

Scientific report on the effects of farming systems on dairy cow welfare and disease

“…Summer access to pasture has been found to reduce mortality of dairy cows in Denmark (Thomsen et al 2006;Thomsen et al, 2007). A number of epidemiological or experimental studies in different countries have found that lactating cows without access to pasture suffer from a higher incidence of a variety of health problems including mastitis (Bendixen et al, 1986b;Bendixen et al, 1988a;Waage et al, 1998;Barkema et al, 1999a;Washburn et al, 2002;White et al, 2002), tramped teats (Ekesbo, 1966;Geer and Grommers, 1975;Bendixen et al, 1986b), metritis (Bruun et al, 2002), Salmonella enterica infections (Veling et al, 2002), dystocia (Bendixen at al, 1986a), retained placenta (Bendixen et al, 1987a) and ketosis (Bendixen et al, 1987c). Hock and knee injuries are also more common when cows have no or limited access to pasture (Haskell et al, 2006, Rutherford et al, 2008.…”