Abstract
The incidence of endometritis and risk factors between herds and between breeds and its effect on the subsequent fertility of cows may differ among countries. It is therefore necessary to study the etiology of endometritis in these different circumstances. This work was carried out on 190 Holstein Friesian cows (2.5-13 years old) belonging to El-Salhia Agriculture project (Ismailia Province, Egypt) during the period from January 1996 to April 1997. The incidence of endometritis was 22.4%, and the most prominent risk factors leading to the occurrence of endometritis were retained placenta, stillbirth, external interference by herdmen during calving and difficult birth (20.6, 19.1, 12.3 and 5.3% respectively). The cows in the first parity had a higher incidence of endometritis (27.7%) than cows in the subsequent parities. Cows which calved in autumn (31.2%) had a higher incidence of endometritis than cows which calved in the other seasons. The endometritic cows had inferior reproductive indices than the normal cows. The interval between calving and first service in cows with endometritis was 14 days longer than the normal ones. The first service conception rate (12.5%) and final conception rate (45.5%) in cows with endometritis were lower than those in the normal cows (50 and 100%) (P<0.05 ). In conclusion the most important risk factors leading to endometritis are retained placenta and abnormal calving in dairy cows in Egypt. Moreover, postpartum endometritis adversely affects subsequent fertility in dairy cows in Egypt.
