The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae as a major cause of bovine mastitis poses a critical threat to global dairy production, with conventional antibiotics increasingly failing to control infections. To address this crisis, a lytic phage vB_KpnP_ZH4 (ZH4) was isolated from dairy farm sewage and demonstrated to possess potent activity against prevalent MDR K. pneumoniae strains from mastitic cows in Shanghai farms. Morphological characterization revealed that ZH4 belonged to the Podoviridae family, whereas genomic analysis confirmed the absence of virulence, resistance, or lysogeny genes in its 36.2-kb genome.

Prebiotics and probiotics are feed additives that can benefit the host by modulating the gut microbiome, which is crucial in digestion, immunity, and overall animal health. This study aims to evaluate the effects of supplementing prebiotics, probiotics, or synbiotics to preweaning Holstein calves on their future milk yield. This study is a retrospective analysis of milk yield records from dairy cows that were randomized at birth to 1 of 4 twice-daily treatments administered during the preweaning period: (1) control, no additive (CON), (2) prebiotic (PRE; 7 mL of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast culture), (3) probiotic (PRO; Bacillus subtilis and Lactobacillus plantarum, delivering ∼1 billion and 250 million cfu per head per day, respectively), or (4) synbiotic (SYN; combination of both PRE and PRO at the same dosages as the PRE and PRO treatments).

To support the nutritional demands of fetal growth and the onset of milk production, dairy cattle mobilize body tissues; and though this has been established in multiparous animals, the extent of this mobilization is less understood in primigravid dairy cattle. The objectives of this study were to characterize the longissimus dorsi muscle depth (LDD) and extent of LDD and backfat mobilization, as well as to characterize the muscle histological differences in pre- and postpartum primigravid dairy animals with varying muscle reserves as they transition into their first lactation.

Early-life growth and development are crucial for the future performance of replacement heifers. Optimizing growth enhances immediate performance and establishes the foundation for long-term productivity, improving overall efficiency in milk production. This study retrospectively investigated the associations between growth rates during the first 2 mo of life and feeding behavior during the preweaning period, overall growth, and first-lactation performance in Holstein heifers under a high milk allowance.

Rapid and accurate prediction of milk yield plays an important role in the breeding of dairy goats. We improved the Mask R-CNN deep learning model based on Feature Channel Attention, anchor refinement module, and so on, making it more applicable for predicting milk yield in dairy goats. The accuracy, recall, and mIoU of the improved model for udder segmentation of dairy goats reached 92.21% ± 0.02%, 85.39% ± 0.02%, and 76.28% ± 0.01%, respectively. The predicted mean absolute error, mean squared error, and mean absolute percentage error for the milk yield in the test set were 0.149 ± 0.009, 0.042 ± 0.018, and 9.62 ± 0.014, respectively.

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has emerged as a potential physiological indicator of heat stress (HS), recognized for its substantial upregulation in response to increased temperatures and cellular stress. The accurate measurement of HSP70 is crucial for its application in research and on-farm monitoring. Commercial ELISA kits are widely available and exhibit high sensitivity; however, their limited working ranges require the dilution of high-concentration samples, which can potentially introduce variability.

The microbial, chemical, and sensory quality of bulk tank raw milk affects the shelf life and quality of finished dairy products. Traditionally, raw milk quality is determined using total bacteria count (TBC) and SCC. Here, a longitudinal study was conducted over a 15-mo period with 100 conventional dairy farms enrolled, each sampled 6 times. The farms represented a variety of sizes, milking systems, and other farming practices. Samples were evaluated for 24 different quality parameters, covering both traditional (e.g., TBC, SCC, and chemical composition) and novel measures of quality (e.g., sensory defect evaluation, mesophilic spore counts [MSC], thermophilic spore counts [TSC], psychrotolerant spore counts [PSC], and butyric acid bacteria [BAB]).

Our objective was to investigate sucrose replacement in school lunch chocolate milk with nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, with and without lactose hydrolysis of milk, on adult and child acceptance. In experiment 1, chocolate milk was formulated with nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners (allulose syrup, mixed-sugar syrup, stevia, monk fruit, or sucralose) to the iso-sweet intensity of a current school lunch chocolate milk formulation with 3.69% sucrose (wt/vol). In experiment 2, lactose-hydrolyzed (LH) chocolate milk was formulated with nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners (allulose syrup, mixed-sugar syrup, stevia, monk fruit) to the iso-sweet intensity of 3.69% sucrose (wt/vol).

Udder asymmetry is a clinical sign in dairy goats frequently linked to udder inflammation (mastitis). Therefore, goats identified with udder asymmetry should be examined and specifically checked for (past) mastitis. Ideally, all goats should be routinely monitored for udder asymmetry during milking. However, in many countries, dairy goat herds consist of hundreds to thousands of animals, which makes it practically impossible and too labor intensive to regularly examine all animals. Therefore, new automated solutions, including computer vision models, are highly desirable.

Biotin is a vital coenzyme involved in diverse metabolic pathways and plays a key role in hoof health by supporting keratin synthesis and the protective barrier of the hoof. This study systematically investigated the effects of rumen-protected biotin (RPB) on hepatic metabolic networks, redox homeostasis, and hoof health in lactating dairy cows using an integrated multiomics approach. The RPB supplement consisted of 2.1% biotin (purity ≥99%), 62.9% glucose, and 35% hydrogenated palm oil fatty acids.

Bovine mastitis caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae is an infectious disease characterized by severe clinical manifestations, poor therapeutic outcomes, and substantial economic losses. Although type 1 fimbriae, with fimA as the major structural subunit, are a recognized virulence factor in Enterobacteriaceae, their specific role in bovine mastitis remains unclear. In this study, we constructed a ΔfimA mutant from a clinical mastitis isolate to evaluate contributions of fimA to adhesion and virulence.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of parity on early embryonic development and placentation in Holstein cattle. Pregnant cows were classified as nulliparous (n = 16), primiparous (n = 7), or multiparous (n = 8) after estrous synchronization for timed artificial insemination (d 0 = day of timed AI). Pregnancy was confirmed on d 28 after AI via transrectal ultrasonography. Cervical epithelial cells were collected daily from d 14 to 20 to assess ISG15 and MX2 mRNA abundance. Blood samples were collected on d 0, 4.5, 7, 10, and 12 and daily from d 14 to 30; additional samples were collected every 12 h from d 18 to d 24 to assess circulating pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAG) concentration.

Training of new employees on dairy farms is often inadequate due to limited time, staff, expertise, and language barriers. This study evaluated the acceptance and learning outcomes of e-learning courses as a training tool for dairy farm workers. We developed an online course series based on standard operating procedures for 8 key tasks in calf care (neonatal care, emergency care, measuring colostrum quality, bottle feeding colostrum, tube feeding colostrum, disbudding, identification of sick calves, and cleaning and disinfection) and made it available to farmers and their employees (n = 301).

Maintaining a dietary supply of limiting AA such as Lys, Met, and His during heat stress–induced reduction of DMI may help meet lactation requirements. Twelve lactating Holstein cows were allocated into 2 plots based on parity: (1) primiparous (n = 6; 29.5 ± 1.2 kg milk/d; 95.2 ± 16.2 DIM; mean ± SD) and (2) multiparous (n = 6; 40.3 ± 5.5 kg milk/d; 86.8 ± 10.2 DIM; 3.5 ± 1.6 parities). Within each parity, cows were allocated to 3 treatments, according to a replicated Latin square design with 14-d periods and 7-d washouts.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen responsible for both clinical and subclinical bovine mastitis. Its ability to persist within the mammary gland and evade host immune responses makes it particularly significant for herd health and dairy production. So, this study aimed to evaluate whether the presence and diversity of S. aureus virulence genes mastitis-causing are associated with the onset and severity of mastitis in dairy cows. We analyzed 50 S. aureus isolates obtained from milk samples of cows with subclinical mastitis (SM) and 101 isolates from clinical mastitis (CM), including 28 from mild and 73 from moderate cases.

Ketosis is a common metabolic disease affecting dairy cows during early lactation. β-Hydroxybutyrate, the predominant ketone body in the bloodstream of ketotic cows, has been linked to neutrophil dysfunction and a higher incidence of mastitis. Neutrophils, the first line of cellular defense against bacteria, rely heavily on carbohydrate metabolism. In this study, we investigated the effect of high BHB concentrations on glycolysis and on the functional response of bovine neutrophils to Staphylococcus aureus—a leading cause of mastitis worldwide—and to Pam3CSK4, a synthetic agonist of toll-like receptor 2/1 (TLR2/1), which is critical for S.

Use of unconventional feeds is an important way to solve the shortage of traditional forage resources in dairy production. This study evaluated the effects of replacing alfalfa hay with Lycium barbarum branches (LBB) in dairy cow diets on the lactation performance, milk fatty acid (FA) composition, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, and blood metabolites. Forty-five midlactation Holstein cows with a milk yield of 26.5 ± 8.37 kg/d and parity of 2.1 ± 0.37 were assigned to a randomized complete block design to 3 groups: 0LBB, 50LBB and 100LBB, with LBB replacing 0%, 50%, and 100%, respectively, of alfalfa hay in cow diet (on a DM basis).

A meta-analysis was conducted to quantify production responses to chromium (Cr) supplementation and better understand variables that affect this response. Multivariate random and mixed effects models were used to develop and fit all models. The response variable was described by the mean difference of milk yield, ECM, DMI, and milk fat and protein yields between cows that received Cr supplementation and cows in the control group. Treatment means from 28 studies were used to assemble a database of studies designed specifically to investigate the effects of supplementing Cr on dairy cows.

This study evaluated the supplementation of phytogenic additives and inactivated yeast, either alone or in combination with a blend of fermentation residues, on DM and nutrient intake, apparent total-tract digestibility, feed particle sorting, milk yield and composition, blood metabolites, and nitrogen utilization in dairy cows during summer. Thirty-nine mid- to late-lactation cows (174 ± 76.0 DIM; 31.0 ± 3.42 kg/d milk yield, 630 ± 72.5 kg BW) were grouped into 13 blocks based on DIM, milk yield, BW, and parity, and assigned to the following treatments: control (CON), phytogenic compounds + sanguinarin and magnolia extract, fed at 1.94 g/kg DM (Heat Stress Solution, ADM Animal Nutrition; PHY); and phytogenic compounds + blend of fermentation residues (mycelium strains, Aspergillus niger), fed at 1.94 g/kg DM (Thermal Care R, ADM Animal Nutrition; BLD).

Cow-calf contact (CCC) systems are of growing scientific interest due to the public concern about early separation of the calf from the dam on dairy cattle farms, which currently occurrs soon after calving. Despite the scientifically demonstrated beneficial effects of CCC for both the cow (improving udder health and promoting maternal behaviors) and calf (growth, social learning and reduction of abnormal behaviors), only a small number of dairy cattle farmers practice CCC. Although unpredictable, new animal welfare legislation or best practice guidelines might suggest the adoption of CCC systems in the future.