Veterinary session

The aim of our research was to monitor the effects of drench-treatment on the occurrance of diseases of cows that had multiple gestations 30 to 60 days after calving. In the experiment 203 Holstein-friesian cows were examined. The drench-treatment was performed on 104, randomly selected cows (group D), and the control group consisted of 99 individuals (group K). The nutritional supplement used for the drench-treatment consisted of: 14% calcium, 42% proprionate, 6% magnesium, 6% potassium, 3% sodium, 9% chloridium and 20% yeast which were dissolved in 25 liters of semi-warm water. We perfomed the treatment three times, approximately every 24 hours. The first treatment took place within 24 hours after calving, the exact time was recorded. The conditions for group K were the same as for group D. RISKA supervising programme was used to monitor the occurance of diseases until Day 30 aan the culling rate until Day 60 after calving, and we also recorded the time of the first insemination and its result. The collected data was analysed by R-programme. At the dairy farm where the research took place metabolic diseases are considerably rare. At the time of the experiment two cases of milk fever occured. Both cows belonged to group K, there was no milk fever in group D, supposably because of the calcium content of the drench fluid, however the difference was not significant (P= 0,1432). When investigating mastitis occurance there were 38 cases in group D (36,5%), and 44 in group K (44%) (P= 0,2512). In case of metritis occurance there was no difference between the groups, in group D there were 19 (18,3%) cases, in group K 21 (21,2%). Retained fetal membranes occured at similar rates in both groups. Left abomasal displacement was diagnosed in 6 cows from group D (5,8%) and 2 from group K (2%) (P=0,17). We also examined the decrease in the production rate in both groups, and there was decrease in case of 9 ( 8,7%) cows from group D and 3 (3%) from group K. An important observation is that if abomasal displacement takes place the chance of decrease in production increases by 23 times (P=7,2x10-5). In the two groups the time between insemination and pregnancy, and the first calving had not shown any difference. We also examined the culling rates within 60 days. In group D 5, in group K 9 cows were culled (5% and 9%, P=0,23).

At the farm where our research took place the occurance of the discussed diseases is generally low, and the lack of positive effect of drenching is probably thanks to that. If it comes to preventing other diseases the effectiveness of drenching has not been proved. Despite not having achieved any singnificant results, the frequency of mastitis and culling decreased, therefore it could be an indication for further research