Economic Benefit of an Improved Conception Rate in Dairy Cows through Additional Treatment of Mastitis with Meloxicam

摘要

Clinical mastitis (CM) reduces milk production in dairy cows (Hagnestam et al., 2007) and compromises the welfare of the cow, since even mild mastitis has been found to induce pain (Leslie and Petersson-Wolfe, 2012). Additionally CM has been associated with poor reproductive performance (Lavon et al., 2011). In a recent randomized controlled trial, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NS AID), meloxicam was added to the standard antibiotic treatment of mild and moderate CM cases. This resulted inan improved conception rate, a reduced number of inseminations required per conception, and an increased proportion of cows pregnant by 120 days after calving (McDougall et al., 2016). The objective of the current study was to assess whether these improved reproduction outcomes would be resulting in a positive net economic benefit for the producer.