The use of local anesthesia and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) can reduce indicators of pain and inflammation and encourage self-rewarding behavior in calves following disbudding. Although the use of sedation may be recommended as a best practice for disbudding, there is little research in this area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of xylazine sedation in conjunction with a local anesthetic and an NSAID in calves undergoing cautery disbudding. One hundred twenty-two group-housed female and male Holstein calves fed milk with automated feeders, aged 13 to 44 d, were enrolled over 9 replicates and randomly allocated to 1 of 2 treatments (1) sedated lidocaine cornual nerve block, 0.5 mg/kg meloxicam (administered subcutaneously) and 0.2 mg/kg xylazine (administered intramuscularly), or (2) nonsedated lidocaine cornual nerve block and meloxicam. Outcomes collected consisted of feeding behavior (collected using automated milk feeders), latency to drink milk following disbuddinisbudding, but no differences were detected between groups at 24 h after disbudding. Nonsedated calves had 4.5 times the odds (95% CI 1.5-13.2) of struggling more than twice during the disbudding procedure compared with sedated calves, and it took less time to administer a nerve block to sedated calves compared with nonsedated. At +3 h, nonsedated calves were 79 times (95% CI 22.4 to 279.2) more likely to play compared with sedated calves, and 24 h after disbudding, sedated calves were 2 times more likely to play compared with nonsedated calves (95% CI 0.93-4.3). The results indicate that calves sedated with xylazine for cautery disbudding responded less to painful stimuli (disbudding and MNT) both during and following the procedure and had a higher rate of play behavior 24 h following sedation compared with the nonsedated calves, but xylazine may also have a prolonged carryover effect that affects suckling behavior for 48 h following sedation.This study demonstrated the feasibility of a genomic evaluation for the dairy cattle population for which the small national training population can be complemented with foreign information from international evaluations. National test-day milk yield data records for the Slovenian Brown Swiss cattle population were analyzed. Genomic evaluation was carried out using the single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction method (ssGBLUP), resulting in genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV). The predominantly female group of genotyped animals, representing the national training population in the single-step genomic evaluation, was further augmented with 7,024 genotypes of foreign progeny-tested sires from an international Brown Swiss InterGenomics genomic evaluation (https//interbull.org/ib/whole_cop). Additionally, the estimated breeding values for the altogether 7,246 genotyped domestic and foreign sires from the 2019 sire multiple across-country evaluation (MACE), were added to the ssGBLUP as external pseutic phenotypic information. Thus, an equal or slightly higher genomic breeding value REL was obtained sooner than the pedigree-based breeding value REL for the female selection candidates. When the abundant foreign progeny-tested sire genomic and MACE information was used to complement available national genomic and phenotypic information in single-step genomic evaluation, the genomic breeding value REL for young-female selection candidates increased approximately 10 points. Use of international information provides the possibility to upgrade small national training populations and obtain satisfying reliability of genomic breeding values even for the youngest female selection candidates, which will help to increase selection efficiency in the future.The objective of this prospective cohort study was to explore associations between intramammary infection (IMI) in late-lactation cows and postcalving udder health and productivity. Cows (n = 2,763) from 74 US dairy herds were recruited as part of a previously published cross-sectional study of bedding management and IMI in late-lactation cows. Each herd was visited twice for sampling. At each visit, aseptic quarter milk samples were collected from 20 cows approaching dry-off (>180 d pregnant), which were cultured using standard bacteriological methods and MALDI-TOF for identification of isolates. Quarter-level culture results were used to establish cow-level IMI status at enrollment. Cows were followed from enrollment until 120 d in milk (DIM) in the subsequent lactation. Herd records were used to establish whether subjects experienced clinical mastitis or removal from the herd, and DHIA test-day data were used to record subclinical mastitis events (somatic cell count >200,000 cells/mL) and milk yield (kg/d)thout IMI. No associations were detected between IMI in late lactation and risk for postcalving removal from the herd within the first 120 DIM. Effect estimates reported in this study may be less than the underlying quarter-level effect size for IMI at dry-off and postcalving clinical and subclinical mastitis, because of the use of late-lactation IMI as a proxy for IMI at dry-off and the use of cow-level exposure and outcome measurements. Furthermore, the large number of models run in this study (n = 94) increases the chance of identifying chance associations. Therefore, confirmatory studies should be conducted. We conclude that IMI in late lactation may increase risk of clinical and subclinical mastitis in the subsequent lactation. MMP-9-IN-1 manufacturer The relationship between IMI and postcalving health and productivity is likely to vary among pathogens, with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., and Lactococcus spp. being the most important pathogens identified in the current study.Compared with Holstein whole milk, commercial milk replacers (MR) for calves deliver relatively high levels of lactose and low levels of fat, and protein levels are rather comparable, resulting in a lower energy density and energy-to-protein ratio of the diet. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the effects of partially exchanging lactose with fat in MR on voluntary feed intake, growth performance, and feeding behavior. Thirty-two male Holstein calves (2.1 ± 0.16 d of age, 46.4 ± 0.77 kg of body weight; BW) were assigned to 16 blocks of 2 calves per block based on arrival date and serum IgG. Within each block, calves were randomly assigned to 2 treatments a high-lactose MR (HL; 17% fat; 44% lactose), or a high-fat MR (HF; 23% fat; 37% lactose). Lactose was exchanged by fat on a weight per weight basis, resulting in a 6% difference in metabolizable energy density per kilogram of MR. The experiment was divided into 3 phases preweaning (P1; 0-35 d), weaning (P2; 36-56 d), and postweaning (P3; 57-84 d).