Reproductive potential in female cattle discarded as infertile

Abstract

Summary. Dairy cattle were served at consecutive heats up to three times each; they were then slaughtered, and the genital tracts were examined.Seventy-four cattle had been discarded from herds because they had not bred; 14 had never calved, and 14 were primiparous. Of these 28 animals, 12 (43 %) conceived readily, and had normal pregnancies; normal genital tracts were found at slaughter. Eleven of the 16 animals that did not conceive had normal genitalia. The remaining 46 animals were mature cows, with a mean parity of 4\m=.\9;9 (19\m=.\6%) became pregnant and had live embryos at autopsy, while in 7 other cows (15\m=.\2%)conception had been followed by embryonic death. Five of the uteri associated with these 16 conceptions showed pathological changes. Thirty of the 46 mature cows (65 %) did not conceive; 12 (40%) had normal genitalia, and 18 (60%) showed severe pathological changes in the uterus and/or oviduct. Nine 'control' cows discarded because of poor milk yield were infertile, but 5 cows, discarded for various other reasons, all bred normally.

Bovine Endometritis: Current and Future Alternative Therapy

“…A.pyogenes is the most frequently isolated bacteria from the uteri of cows affected with endometritis OLSON et al, 1984). Other bacteria such as streptococci, staphylococci and E. coli are also thought to cause different degrees of endometritis DAWSON, 1977;ELLIOT et al, 1968;ZEMJANIS, 1980). Recent studies have shown the importance of anaerobic bacteria in the pathogenesis of endometritis (RUDER et al, 1981;OLSON et al, 1984;EL-AZAB et al, 1988;NOAKES et al, 1989).…”