Milk production is an essential agricultural produce in almost all the countries in the world. Up to a billion people in the world live on farms and make a livelihood through dairy and dairy produce. It is an indispensible part of the global food system and plays a significant role in sustaining development in rural areas. It is a well-known fact that the dairy industry is actively contributing to the economy of a number of communities, regions and countries. There is a growing demand around the world for globalizing this industry there by increasing scope and intensity of world trade in dairy products. Global Investment must be considered in to the latest breeding and management techniques of dairy animals so that a sustainable form of economic gain can be achieved. Therefore, in the Middle East, an increased avenue of investments in this sector will ensure food security and viable economic gain. The objective of health management is to ensure optimal care and welfare of dairy cattle to in turn check productivity losses due to mismanagement. Only healthy dairy animals lead to healthy dairy products, which in turn leads to good economic gains.
Basics of Reproduction in Cattle: The period of oestrous cycling occurs every 21 days in a cow after the period of postpartum anaestrous and for heifers that reach puberty (first ovulation). This means that these estrus cycles give a heifer or cow a chance to get pregnant about every 21 days. There are various best management practices that can be followed in order to ensure that this cycle is taken most advantage of in producing optimum results in dairy production. Body Conditioning Score is one of the most essential ways of continually monitoring Optimal health and productivity in dairy cattle. This system of scoring (BCS) is directly related to livestock reproduction. If BCS is low or poor, the dairy animal will not attain its peak productivity. BCS is also an indicator of the amount of energy stored in the dairy animal. Optimum BCS, ensures that energy levels are maintained well enough in the animal to ensure good productivity. The high-energy transition period for dairy cows, three weeks before and after calving, is of utmost importance, as their metabolic needs increase dramatically during this time. The animal needs to maintain sufficient energy levels in order to cope with this critical period. The performance of dairy cows during the rest of lactation is directly related to how well they cope with this high-energy requirement during the transition phase. This has direct effect on disease and reproduction. Essentially all dairy cows experience a period of insulin resistance, reduced feed intake, negative energy balance, hypocalcemia, decreased immune function, and bacterial contamination of the uterus just before or during the weeks after calving. A third of dairy cows can be affected by some type of metabolic and infectious diseases in early lactation. Routine, proactive actions, veterinary observations, or analysis are intended to accurately and efficiently provide early detection of problems, to provide an opportunity for investigation and
intervention in order to limit the consequences and costs of health problems and reduce animal performance or welfare. Methods of early detection include monitoring of disease and culling records, feed intake, milk production, body condition, and simple metabolic tests. Genetic improvement of dairy cows has markedly increased milk yield over the last three decades. Increased production has been associated with reduced conception rate. Because conception rate in dairy heifers has remained higher, the metabolic demands of higher production may be related to the decline in reproductive performance in cows. During early lactation, increasing dietary intake fails to keep pace with rising milk production. The resultant negative energy balance and rate of mobilization of body reserves appear directly related to the postpartum interval to first ovulation and lower conception rate. Delays in the onset of normal ovarian activity, thus limiting the number of estrous cycles before breeding, may account for the observed decrease in fertility. Negative energy balance probably acts similarly to under nutrition and may manifest in delayed ovarian activity by impinging on pulsatile secretion of LH. Lower availability of glucose and insulin may also decrease LH pulsatility or limit ovarian responsiveness to gonadotropins.
Alternatively, release of endogenous opioids in association with increasing feed intake or other lactational hormone responses may provide neural or pituitary inhibition of the pulsatile LH production that is requisite for ovarian follicular development. Correlations between reproductive traits and measures of milk yield indicate that higher yield is associated phenotypically and genetically with reduced reproductive performance in lactating cows. Numerous recent studies have reported that reproductive performance is compromised, primarily through delayed ovarian activity and reduced conception rates, by the demands of high milk yield. However, daily managerial decisions to obtain efficient reproductive performance have considerable impact. Management can offset depression in fertility, because high yielding herds often achieve the fewest days open. Different techniques are used worldwide to improve and maximize production through reproduction in cattle keeping their health as top priority. An increase in research and modern techniques in the Middle Eastern and GCC countries can increase economic gains in this sector; Artificial Insemination, Synchronization of Estrus, Embryo Transfer, Sexed semen, In vitro fertilization, and Cloning. Local dairy farmers can also be empowered to increase their abilities to perform better in the dairy sector by following simple protocols. In a dairy farm, keeping control of these parameters, farmers can maintain the health and reproduction of the herd.
