Prophylactic strategy with herbal remedy to reduce puerperal metritis risk in dairy cows: A randomized clinical trial

Puerperal metritis is an important disorders usually within 21 days postpartum in dairy cattle that occurs within 21 days postpartum, and herbal remedies are believed to be beneficial for postpartum female livestock. Sheng Hua Tang is a prime example of herbal formula used as a therapeutic aid in prevention or control of postpartum disease for centuries in China. In the present study, we were to evaluate the efficacy of Sheng Hua Tang as a prophylactic strategy for lowering puerperal metritis risks and improving reproductive performance in dairy cows under field conditions. A total of 311 clinically healthy cows were randomly allocated to the intervention group or the control group 2-4 h after delivery. Treated cows (n=158) received Sheng Hua Tang with an oral dose of 0.36 g crude herb/kg bw once daily for three consecutive days, whereas the controls (n=153) received no treatment. The logistic regression and survival analysis were used to analyze the incidence of puerperal metritis and reproduction parameters of cows between the two groups, respectively. The results showed that there was a significant reduction in the incidence of puerperal metritis (12.1% vs. 33.3%, P=0.01, odd ratio [OR] 2.392) between Sheng Hua Tang group and the control group. The calving-to-first-service interval (68.9±17.7 days vs. 80.5±26.6 days, P<0.05) and service per conception (1.7 vs. 2.1, P<0.01) were lower in cows in Sheng Hua Tang group than the controls. Additionally, Sheng Hua Tang treatment effectively elevated the first AI conception proportion (61.1% vs. 51.3%, P<0.05) and proportion of cows that were pregnant at 305 days in milk (89.8% vs. 82.0%, P<0.01) compared with that of controls. The present results would support efforts to the use of Sheng Hua Tang immediately after delivery as a prophylactic strategy for lowering puerperal metritis risk and improving the overall reproductive efficiency of dairy herds under these study circumstances. Thus, Sheng Hua Tang treatment could represent an effective prophylactic strategy for bovine postpartum care.