Abstract #402

Section: Reproduction (orals)
Session: Joint Reproduction/Animal Health Platform Session: Transition Cow Health and Reproduction
Format: Oral
Day/Time: Tuesday 4:00 PM–4:15 PM
Location: Room 206

# 402
Epidemiology of reproductive disorders in large certified organic dairy farms in northern Colorado.
D. Manriquez^*1, J. Velez², P. Pinedo¹, ¹Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, ²Aurora Organic Dairy, Platteville, CO.

Management practices in certified organic dairies (ORG) may influence the occurrence of reproductive diseases (RD), contrasted with conventional dairies. The objectives were to report the prevalence of abortion (ABT), retained placenta (RTP), metritis (MET, defined as presence of fetid watery red-brown uterine discharge, fever, and signs of general illness within the first 21 DIM), endometritis (ENDO, defined as the presence of mucopurulent uterine discharge after 21 DIM), and culling due to impaired reproduction (CUR), and to identify risk factors for RD in ORG. A retrospective analysis from farm records on the prevalence of RD and their associations with parity, dry period length, days in closeup groups, pregnancy length, and grazing season was performed in 36,911 lactations from cows calving between January 2016 and December 2018. Five large ORG in Northern Colorado (USA) ranging from 1,900 to 4,100 milking cows were included. Data analyses were performed using PROC FREQ and LOGISTIC in SAS. Prevalence of ABT, RTP, MET, ENDO, and CUR were 3.5, 1.3, 5.4, 8.7, and 7.2%, respectively. Most relevant predictors associated with RD are shown in Table 1. Other variables significantly associated with greater odds of ABT, ENDO, MET and CUR were closeup, calving and dry period occurred during grazing season. Pregnancy length was not associated with any RD. Under organic management, grazing and peripartum managements appear to be potential intervenient variables to improve reproductive efficiency in ORG. Table 1 (Abstr. 402). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI for ABT, ENDO, MET, RTP, and CUR (only significant and controlling predictors are included)

	ABT			ENDO			MET			RTP		CUR
OR	CI	OR	CI	OR	CI	OR	CI	OR	CI
Parity
1	–						–			–		–
≥2	1.5	1.2–1.8^A					1.8	1.4–2.3^A		5.7	2.8–11.7^A	2.8	2.4–3.3^A
Dry period (d)
≤30	4	2.8–5.9^A										2.6	2.2–3.1^A
>30 to ≤60	1.6	1.1–2.3^B										1.8	1.6–2.1^A
>60	–											–
Days in closeup
≤7							2.5	2–3.1^A		4.6	3.1–6.8^A	0.9	0.8–1.1^D
>7 - ≤14							1.2	0.9–1.5^D		1.8	1.1–2.7^C	1.2	1.1–1.3^B
>14							–			–		–
Calving season
Fall				2.2	1.9–2.5^A		1.7	1.2–2.4^A		2.2	1.2–4.3^C	1.4	1.2–1.7^A
Winter				–			–			–		–
Spring				1.5	1.2–1.8^A		1.5	1–2.1^B		3.2	1.6–6.3^A	1.6	1.3–2^A
Summer				1.5	1.2–1.8		2.2	1.4–3.4^A		5.9	2.6–13.3^A	1.2	0.9–1.5^D

P-value A <0.001; B <0.01; C <0.05; D <0.15.

Key Words: organic, reproduction