Production diseases of the transition cow

137

108

Milk production, fertility, longevity and health records, were extracted from databases of two milk recording organisations in the United Kingdom for the first three lactations of the Holstein-Friesian breed. These included data related to health events (mastitis and lameness), voluntarily recorded on a proportion of farms. The data were analysed to calculate disease incidence levels and to estimate genetic parameters for health traits and their relationships with production and other functional traits. The resulting dataset consisted of 124 793 lactations from 75 137 animals of 1586 sires, recorded in 2434 herds. Incidence of health events increased with parity. The overall incidence of mastitis (MAS) and lameness (LAM), defined as binary traits, were 17% and 16%, respectively. Heritability estimates for MAS and LAM were 0.04 and 0.02, respectively, obtained from repeatability linear sire models. Heritability estimates of mastitis and lameness as count traits were slightly higher, 0.05 and 0.03, respectively. Genetic correlations were obtained by bivariate analyses of all pair-wise combinations between milk 305-day yield (MY), protein 305-day yield (PY), fat 305-day yield (FY), lactation average log e transformed lactation average somatic cell count (SCS), calving interval (CI), days to first service (DFS), non-return at 56 days (NR56), number of inseminations (NINS), mastitis (MAS), number of mastitis episodes (NMAS), lameness (LAM), number of lameness episodes (NLAM) and lifespan score (LS). As expected, MAS was correlated most strongly with SCS (0.69), which supports the use of SCS as an indicator trait for mastitis. Genetic correlations between MAS and yield and fertility traits were of similar magnitude ranging from 0.27 to 0.33. Genetic correlations between MAS with LAM and LS were 0.38 and 20.59, respectively. Not all genetic correlations between LAM and other traits were significant because of fewer numbers of lameness records. LAM had significant genetic correlations with MY (0.38), PY (0.28), CI (0.35), NINS (0.38) and LS (20.53). The heritability estimates of mastitis and lameness were low; therefore, genetic gain through direct selection alone would be slow, yet still positive and cumulative. Direct selection against mastitis and lameness as additional traits should reduce incidence of both diseases, and simultaneously improve fertility and longevity. However, both health traits had antagonistic relationships with production traits, thus genetic gain in production would be slower.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Genetics Of Fitness Traits In Dairy Cowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic parameters for production, health, fertility and longevity traits in dairy cows

Pritchard

Coffey

Mrode

et al. 2013

137

108

“…A number of excellent earlier reviews have covered critical periods such as the transition period in the cow and its influence on health and immune function (Mulligan and Doherty, 2008), the interplay between the endocrine system and the immune system (Ingvartsen and Boisclair, 2001;Vangroenweghe et al, 2005), nutrition and immune function (Kehrli et al, 2006) and PI and prevention of diseases in the periparturient cow (Ingvartsen, 2006). The scope of this review is to improve the prevention of diseases and the welfare of herbivores using the dairy cow as the main example through insight in the PI during the transition period, nutrition and immune function and perspectives for prevention of diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition, immune function and health of dairy cattle

Ingvartsen

Moyes

2013

263

214

The large increase in milk yield and the structural changes in the dairy industry have caused major changes in the housing, feeding and management of the dairy cow. However, while large improvements have occurred in production and efficiency, the disease incidence, based on veterinary records, does not seem to be improved. Earlier reviews have covered critical periods such as the transition period in the cow and its influence on health and immune function, the interplay between the endocrine system and the immune system and nutrition and immune function. Knowledge on these topics is crucial for our understanding of disease risk and our effort to develop health and welfare improving strategies, including proactive management for preventing diseases and reducing the severity of diseases. To build onto this the main purpose of this review will therefore be on the effect of physiological imbalance (PI) on immune function, and to give perspectives for prevention of diseases in the dairy cow through nutrition. To a large extent, the health problems during the periparturient period relate to cows having difficulty in adapting to the nutrient needs for lactation. This may result in PI, a situation where the regulatory mechanisms are insufficient for the animals to function optimally leading to a high risk of a complex of digestive, metabolic and infectious problems. The risk of infectious diseases will be increased if the immune competence is reduced. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in the immune response and the effect of nutrition may be directly through nutrients or indirectly by metabolites, for example, in situations with PI. This review discusses the complex relationships between metabolic status and immune function and how these complex interactions increase the risk of disease during early lactation. A special focus will be placed on the major energetic fuels currently known to be used by immune cells (i.e. glucose, non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate and glutamine) and how certain metabolic states, such as degree of negative energy balance and risk of PI, contribute to immunosuppression during the periparturient period. Finally, we will address some issues on disease prevention through nutrition.

“…This transition is the most stressful period of the cow's life and has a large impact on a cow's lactation production. As a result, , 80% of dairy -E-mail: kplaut@purdue.edu cow disease events occur in the first 3 weeks after a cow delivers a calf (Drackley, 1999;Mulligan and Doherty, 2008;Grummer et al, 2010;LeBlanc, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This transition is the most stressful period of the cow's life and has a large impact on a cow's lactation production. As a result, , 80% of dairy -E-mail: kplaut@purdue.edu 394 cow disease events occur in the first 3 weeks after a cow delivers a calf (Drackley, 1999;Mulligan and Doherty, 2008;Grummer et al, 2010;LeBlanc, 2010).Understanding how a cow sets her metabolic and physiological rhythms in response to changes in her physiology, nutritional status and/or environment will enable the development of simple approaches that maximize productive efficiency and minimize metabolic disturbances in dairy cows. The circadian system is a likely candidate as it is believed to have evolved to coordinate the timing of internal physiological and metabolic processes and synchronize this timing with the animal's environment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the circadian system regulate lactation?

Plaut

Casey

2012

Environmental variables such as photoperiod, heat, stress, nutrition and other external factors have profound effects on quality and quantity of a dairy cow's milk. The way in which the environment interacts with genotype to impact milk production is unknown; however, evidence from our laboratory suggests that circadian clocks play a role. Daily and seasonal endocrine rhythms are coordinated in mammals by the master circadian clock in the hypothalamus. Peripheral clocks are distributed in every organ and coordinated by signals from the master clock. We and others have shown that there is a circadian clock in the mammary gland. Approximately 7% of the genes expressed during lactation had circadian patterns including core clock and metabolic genes. Amplitude changes occurred in the core mammary clock genes during the transition from pregnancy to lactation and were coordinated with changes in molecular clocks among multiple tissues. In vitro studies using a bovine mammary cell line showed that external stimulation synchronized mammary clocks, and expression of the core clock gene, BMAL1, was induced by lactogens. Female clock/ clock mutant mice, which have disrupted circadian rhythms, have impaired mammary development and their offspring failed to thrive suggesting that the dam's milk production was not adequate enough to nourish their young. We envision that, in mammals, during the transition from pregnancy to lactation the master clock is modified by environmental and physiological cues that it receives, including photoperiod length. In turn, the master clock coordinates changes in endocrine milieu that signals peripheral tissues. In dairy cows, it is clear that changes in photoperiod during the dry period and/or during lactation influences milk production. We believe that the photoperiod effect on milk production is mediated, in part by the 'setting' of the master clock with light, which modifies peripheral circadian clocks including the mammary core clock and subsequently impacts milk yield and may impact milk composition.Keywords: mammary, lactation, circadian rhythm, photoperiod, metabolism ImplicationsThe circadian system coordinates internal physiological processes in mammals and synchronizes these processes to the animal's environment. We review the literature and discuss recent findings from our laboratory and others that suggest the circadian system regulates lactation, including coordinating changes in the dam's physiology needed to initiate and maintain lactation and mediating the photoperiod effect on milk production. Identification of environmental and physiological inputs that affect genes that control circadian rhythms will enable development of approaches to alter gene expression to maximize production efficiency in farm animals. IntroductionNearly all physiological and behavioral functions of animals are rhythmic including secretion patterns of hormones, sleep-wake cycle, metabolism and core body temperature.A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-h cycle in the biochemical, physiological or behaviora...