Appropriate handling of dairy cows improves animal welfare and milk production and reduces the risk of injury to cows and people. However, interacting with cows safely requires training to understand their natural behavior. Our objective was to develop, in collaboration with Wisconsin dairy farming stakeholders, an innovative tool for dairy farm staff to practice appropriate cow handling. We created and evaluated a prototype of Mooving Cows, a digital touchscreen game in which players practice moving cows in simulated dairy farm environments.

Ensiling beets allows for year-round feeding, and the high sugar content results in the production of ethanol-rich silage. This study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding sugar- and ethanol-rich beet diets to dairy cows on rumen ethanol metabolism and absorption. Beets were washed, crushed, and stored in daily portions either frozen at −20°C or ensiled in barrels. Four rumen-cannulated Danish Holstein cows were used in a partially replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with 21-d periods. The control diet (CON) was based on grass/clover silage, corn silage, barley, soybean meal, dried beet pulp, urea, and minerals.

Natural and artificial selection leave footprints on the genome, known as selection signatures, that can indicate regions related to adaptive and economically important traits. The recurrent use of a limited number of sires and increased selection pressure may affect genetic diversity, potentially impacting long-term breeding programs. Among dairy cattle, the Holstein breed has been intensively selected to maximize productivity, particularly in Canada and the United States. In the dairy industry, the Gir breed plays an important role in milk production in tropical regions such as India and Latin America.

Bifidobacteria, a significant component of human gut microbiota, play a crucial role in maintaining human health. Studies have shown that the composition of gut microbiome is closely related to the geographical environment, ethnicity, and dietary structure of the host. Currently, most of the mainstream probiotics on the market are based on the gut microbiota characteristics of Western populations, which may not be completely suitable for the gut environment of Chinese people. Therefore, the isolation and screening of Bifidobacteria with probiotic functions in the intestinal tract is critically important to meet the demands of the Chinese market.

Valorization of food waste or food by-products into higher-value products can benefit the food industry by contributing to the food supply chain. This study aimed to investigate the potential for using waste ice cream as a fermentation substrate for production of ethanol by yeast. Results showed that 2 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, Lalvin EC-1118 (Lallemand Inc.) and Ethanol Red (Lesaffre), were able to ferment an aqueous by-product of waste ice cream, resulting in the production of ethanol, ~7% (wt/vol).

Dairy cows with ketosis frequently exhibit impaired liver function and inflammation. Necroptosis, a form of programmed cell death associated with cellular lysis, releases damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMP) into injured tissues, thereby amplifying inflammatory responses and tissue damage. However, the role of necroptosis in the liver of ketotic cows remains unknown. The present study aimed to investigate whether necroptosis is associated with hepatic damage in dairy cows with ketosis. Dairy cows were selected as either the clinically healthy control group (n = 15) or a ketotic group diagnosed with ketosis, and were matched for lactation numbers (median = 3, range = 2–4) and DIM (median = 6 d, range = 3–9 d).

Apparent trace metal absorption and tissue retention upon incremental levels of supplemental Zn, Cu, and Mn were studied in growing cattle. A total of 60 Holstein bulls (age = 246 ± 5 d, BW = 329 ± 26 kg) were enrolled for the study and fed for 6 to 9 wk a diet consisting of barley straw (15%), molasses (10%), and a pelleted concentrate (75%; 78, 15, and 91 mg/kg DM for Zn, Cu, and Mn, respectively). Thereafter, 20 bulls were randomly selected and slaughtered for determination of a baseline tissue trace metal composition.

This study developed a novel analytical method integrating liquid-liquid extraction with solid-phase extraction for simultaneous detection of oxyclozanide (OXY) and levamisole hydrochloride (LMS) residues in milk using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem MS (UPLC-MS/MS). Method validation demonstrated exceptional sensitivity with detection limits of 1.00 ng/mL and quantitation limits of 3.00 ng/mL for both analytes. Low matrix effects (CV <8.00%) and satisfactory recoveries (OXY: 84.00%–108.77%, relative SD [RSD]: 2.20%–8.00%; LMS: 89.50%–119.60%, RSD: 2.10%–8.36%) were achieved across multiple validation parameters, while sample stability remained consistent under varied processing conditions (CV <10.00%).

Colostrum is the first secretion produced by the mammary gland after calving, providing essential macronutrients and micronutrients to newborns. Monitoring elemental concentrations in bovine colostrum (BC) is crucial, as it serves for the physiological development and health of the neonates. Current gold-standard methods to determine elemental composition of BC are inductively coupled plasma optical-emission spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma MS. These techniques, however, are time-consuming, expensive, labor-intensive, and destructive, and they require sample preparation such as chemical matrix decomposition.

We evaluated the effects of insufficient (WET) or extended (CUR) wilting on the concentration of phytoestrogens, nutritional value, microbial populations, in vitro ruminal methane emissions, and in situ degradability of red clover silage (DM: 294 and 453 g/kg) and hay (DM: 651 and 891 g/kg, respectively) across storage stages. Measurements were taken at the start of storage (STRT), after 14 d (early stage of storage), and once storage processes had stabilized for hay and silage (50 and 78 d, respectively; late stage).

This experiment investigated the variability and repeatability of residual feed intake (RFI) in growing and lactating dairy goats, aiming to assess its potential as a selection tool for feed efficiency. During the growth phase, 60 5-mo-old Saanen doelings were grouped based on genetic potential for milk production: high-index (HI; n = 30) and low-index (LI; n = 30) doelings were used. During the lactation phase, 53 early-lactation does, also selected for HI and LI, were used. Of these 53 lactating does, 28 were from the growth phase to investigate the repeatability of RFI rankings.

We investigated the effects of feeding incremental amounts (0%, 3%, and 6% of diet DM) of the red seaweed Chondrus crispus on DMI, milk yield and milk components, enteric CH4 emissions, nutrient utilization, ruminal fermentation and microbiota relative abundance, and I metabolism in dairy cows. Eighteen organic certified Jersey cows (12 multiparous and 6 primiparous) averaging (mean ± SD) 94 ± 45 DIM, 22 ± 5.2 kg of milk/d, and 485 ± 54 kg of BW in the beginning of the study were used in a replicated Latin square design with three 24-d periods (14 d for diet adaptation and 10 d for data and sample collection).

Beets have a high sugar content, which is primarily fermented to ethanol during ensiling. This study investigated the effects of feeding diets with sugar-rich beets or ethanol-rich beet silage to lactating dairy cows on postabsorptive ethanol metabolism, enteric gas emissions, and microbial protein synthesis. Beets were washed, crushed, and stored in daily portions either as is (frozen at −20°C for preservation) or ensiled in barrels. Four rumen-cannulated Danish Holstein cows were used in a replicated (one complete and one incomplete) 3 × 3 Latin square design, with 3 treatments and three 21-d periods.

This study used Rhodobacter sphaeroides protein (RSP) as an innovative dietary protein source for Holstein dairy calves. We investigated its effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and serum metabolites, antioxidants, immunoglobulins, and inflammatory factors. A total of 45 female Holstein calves (36.54 ± 1.68 kg of BW; 1 d of age) were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups and fed either a control diet (CON) or diets with 5.89% or 11.49% RSP (RS1 and RS2, respectively) on a diet DM basis for 14 wk.

Intramammary infections occur commonly in dairy heifers; however, there is a lack of understanding regarding the onset and occurrence of IMI in nulliparous heifers during varying stages of development. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine at what age or stage of gestation heifer mammary samples are culture positive, (2) compare the bacterial genera and species found among sample types, (3) assess the potential of using a needle-based mammary gland sampling technique in heifers, and (4) use novel, multimethod diagnostic criteria to more comprehensively define heifer IMI (hIMI) occurrence.

We hypothesized that prepartum supplementation of fat in a short dry period would improve postpartum energy balance (EB) and produce milk comparable to the traditional dry period. The objective was to investigate the effect of dry period length and prepartum fat supplementation on DMI, EB, BCS, milk yield, and uterine health. The experiment was a randomized complete block design. Holstein cows were blocked by parity and previous lactation milk yield on 207 ± 3 d of gestation. The experiment was conducted in batches: in the first batch, cows were assigned randomly to either a traditional 60-d dry period (TDP; n = 14) or a short 30-d dry period (SDP; n = 14); in the second batch, cows were assigned to TDP (n = 08), SDP (n = 09), or SDP with fat supplementation (SDP-F; n = 08).

Low reticuloruminal pH (rpH) for a prolonged period could lead to SARA. This disease negatively affects cow health and is associated with monetary losses for the dairy industry. The aim of this study was to predict rpH and SARA separately using different machine learning (ML) models applied to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra obtained from routine DHI milk analysis of individual cows. A total of 107 primiparous and multiparous Holstein cows were selected from 12 commercial farms in Québec, Canada, and their rpH was continuously monitored for 150 d using wireless boluses.