Incidence of post-partum uterine disease is an important concern in dairy cattle, because it affects its reproduction. Therefore, the objective of this review of literature was to generate a multifactorial overview about uterine diseases, and the reproductive performance of dairy cows, from a zootechnical approach. Dairy cows face multiple challenges around parturition. Immune suppression around calving, exposition to trauma and uterine bacterial contamination, metabolic diseases, lactation, and changes in management make dairy cows susceptible to uterine diseases. Most cows are able to eliminate uterine infection after calving, however, some cows keep uterine disease. Uterine disease may show clinical signs, but also silent signs that affect fertility as well. Poor reproductive performance is not caused by those signs by themselves, but due to alterations in ovarian and uterine function. Also, the problem of this silent signs is that farmers become aware of the disease when it has already caused negative effects on the reproductive performance. Sometimes, uterine disease is still present at the moment of the first service after calving. Uterine disease make it harder for cows to get pregnant because it affects the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, being another cause for infertility, increasing the cull rate and decreasing incomes from the dairy industry. ResumenEl ganado lechero, entre otros desafíos, presenta enfermedades uterinas post parto que afectan su reproducción, por tanto, el objetivo de esta revisión de literatura fue generar una visión desde múltiples aristas acerca de las enfermedades uterinas y el desempeño reproductivo de la vaca lechera desde un enfoque zootécnico. La vaca lechera enfrenta múltiples retos en el momento del parto. Inmunosupresión alrededor del parto, exposición a trauma y contaminación uterina, enfermedades metabólicas, lactancia y cambios en el manejo, hacen a la vaca lechera un animal vulnerable de sufrir algún tipo de enfermedad uterina. La mayoría de las vacas pueden eliminar la infección Literature review Agron. Mesoam. 29(2):449-468, mayo-agosto, 2018

No abstract

ContentsUterine and cervical size of Holstein dairy cows is reported among reasons for a decline in dairy cow fertility. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to (a) determine whether size of the cervix and uterus at 4 weeks postpartum impacted subsequent fertility at first service in Jersey cattle, (b) determine whether progesterone level at 4 weeks postpartum impacted cyclicity and (c) the association of the presence of corpus luteum and uterus and cervix size. Body condition scores at calving, presence of postpartum diseases, parity number and milk weights were taken from lactating Jersey dairy cows (N = 147) for 28 days postpartum. During the fourth week postpartum, a blood sample was obtained for progesterone concentration, and transrectal ultrasonography was performed by a high‐resolution ultrasound machine to determine cervical and uterine horn diameter, as well as ovarian structures measurements. Correcting for parity number, BCS at calving, presence of diseases and milk yield, cows with a cervix >2.54 ± 0.63 cm and uterine horn >2.25 ± 0.59 cm were less likely to become pregnant at first service (p = .04 andp = .003, respectively). The cows with larger cervix had a trend to be less likely to have a corpus luteum present at the 4th week of lactation (p = .067). Cows with larger uterine horn size were less likely to have a corpus luteum present at the 4th week of lactation (p = .015). It is concluded that a larger cervix and/or uterus during the postpartum was associated negatively with fertility and cyclicity in Jersey cows.

Multiovulation and embryo transfer is a technique used in genetic breeding programs. The synchronization-multi ovulation protocols of bovine embryo donors, as well as the embryo collection technique, have improved, however, the technique should still be maximized. This study was done with the objective of evaluating the effect of the administration of propylene glycol (PPG) in multiovulated donor cows on the production and quality of embryos. The study was conducted in Pococi, Limon, Costa Rica, from February 2011 to January 2012. Daily and oral administration of 300 mg PPG was given from one week prior to one week after the starting of the synchronization-multiovulation protocol. Embryo flushing was performed every two months and seven cows were used. Ovarian evaluations were performed using transrectal ultrasonography before and during the days of the synchronization-multiovulation treatment. The embryos were collected and classified at the age of seven days. Treatment with PPG did not affect the number and size of ovarian follicles as measured by ultrasonography. Likewise, the number of structures collected and their quality did not improve with supplementation. The results of the experiment suggest that other factors, unrelated to the effect of PPG supplementation, affect the animal response to treatments for multiovulation and embryo collection.

Durante los años 2012-2017 se aplicó la técnica de multiovulación y transferencia de embriones (MOET) en animales Holstein y Girolando F1 en la Unidad de Reproducción Animal (URA), de la Escuela de Zootecnia de la Universidad de Costa Rica, para la creación y evaluación de un hato Girolando en las condiciones del Atlántico costarricense. Las hembras donantes de embriones se seleccionaron tanto en fincas externas como en la URA. La selección en fincas externas se realizó a través de la información de los registros de raza y de finca, mientras que en URA, a través de los datos de lactancia y desarrollo de las crías. Además, se realizó una estimación parcial de costos para la producción de embriones. En los animales evaluados en URA, como parte del análisis para la selección de donantes de embriones, el promedio de producción diaria de leche fue de 11,1 kg, con una duración de la lactancia promedio de 296 días, a 1 ordeño diario y con ternero al pie. El destete de las crías se realizó a los 7 meses de edad, con un peso promedio de las crías de 255 kg (promedio de 244 kg en hembras y 262 kg en machos). En total, tanto en URA como en fincas externas, se realizaron 38 colectas en 24 donadoras seleccionadas, de las cuales se colectaron 381 estructuras, un 73,5 % fertilizadas y un 26,5 % infertilizadas. De aquellas estructuras fertilizadas (embriones), un 47,3% fueron consideradas transferibles (calidad 1 y 2 de acuerdo a la Sociedad Internacional de Transferencia de Embriones, IETS), para un promedio general de 4,8 embriones transferibles por colecta. Se realizaron 83 transferencias de embrión en fresco y 34 transferencias de embriones congelados, de los cuales se obtuvo tasas de preñez de 33,7% (28/83) y 5,9% (2/34), respectivamente. Las bajas tasas de preñez obtenidas, comparadas con lo visto en literatura, no son resultados normales, pero son las relacionadas con este estudio en particular. El costo para producir un embrión, por concepto de productos consumibles, hormonales y semen fue de US$62,5 dólares. La producción y transferencia de embriones colaboró en la creación y desarrollo del hato Girolando de la Unidad de Reproducción Animal de la Universidad de Costa Rica.