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. 1986 Jun 1;27(2):196–208. doi: 10.1186/BF03548164

An Epidemiological and Genetic Study on Registered Diseases in Finnish Ayrshire Cattle

II. Reproductive Disorders

En epidemiologisk och genetisk undersökning au sjukdomsdata från finsk Ayrshire boskap. II. Reproduktionstörningar

Hannu Saloniemi 15,25,✉, Yrjö Gröhn 15,25, Jouku Syväjärvi 15,25
PMCID: PMC8189388  PMID: 3799397

Abstract

The epidemiology and genetic variability of the most common reproductive diseases were examined. The data set consisted of the lactation records of 70,775 Finnish Ayrshire dairy cows. Each cow was under observation for 2 days before for 305 days after calving. Lactation incidence rates (%) were: dystocia (DYST) 0.9, retained placenta (RTPL) 4.5, metritis (METR) 2.3, anoestrus and suboe&trus (ESTR) 5.2, and ovulatory dysfunction (CYST) 7.0. These diseases formed 33 % of all first treatmetns by veterinarians during farm visits. The occurrence of DYST, RTPL and METR was lowest in parity 2. ESTR decreased and CYST increased with parity. Cows calving during the dark season (September-February) had a higher risk of ESTR, METR and CYST (odds ratios (OR) 2.2–1.1) and a lower risk of RTPL (OR 0.9) than those calving during the light season (March-August). The increase in herd milk yield was positively associated with the occurrence of reproductive disorders. The cows with a history of parturient paresis had a higher risk of contracting CYST, RTPL and METR (OR 6.6–1.8), the cows with retained placenta of contracting metritis (OR 5.1), the cows with metritis of contracting ESTR and CYST (OR 1.5–1.7), the cows with mastitis of contracting METR and ESTR (OR 2.0–1.3) and the cows with ketosis of contracting METR, ESTR and CYST (OR 2.7–1.6). Heretabilities were determined for 5 diseases and for infertility in general. Heritability estimates for parity 2 were: DYST 2 %, RTPL 3 %, METR 7 %, ESTR 12 %, CYST 12 %, and infertility in general 5 %. Heritability for calving interval was 5 % in parity 1 and 6 % in parity 2.

Keywords: disease documentation, dystocia, retained placenta, metritis, anoestrus, cystic ovaries, dairy cows

Full Text

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank Pol. Lie. Juni Palmgren for advice on logistic regression, and the Agricultural Data Processing Centre for supplying computer facilities for statistical analysis.

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