Recumbency is a frequent symptom occurring throughout lactation. Its cause can be related to the energy or mineral metabolism, or to trauma or infectious diseases. We compared various clinical chemistry parameters between healthy and recumbent cows and between cows with different causes of recumbency and determined if hypocalcaemia manifests in later lactation. Recumbent (n = 32) and healthy (n = 32) German Holstein cows were studied. After clinical examination, a serum sample was taken to measure the concentrations of Mg, Ca, Fe, Na, K, Pi, β-hydroxybutyrate, total bilirubin, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), urea, and creatinine as well as activities of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), and γ-glutamyl transferase in recumbent cows > 5 d in milk and control cows matched for age, lactation number, and pregnancy stage. In recumbent cows, mean serum concentrations of NEFA, bilirubin, and CK were statistically higher, while those of Fe, K, and Pi were significantly lower. Parameters compared between different recumbency diagnoses showed some descriptive Fe, K, urea, and AST differences, but these were not statistically significant. The results show that only a limited number of parameters have diagnostic besides therapeutic value. Although of minor importance in our study, hypocalcaemia should be considered a cause of recumbency, even outside the typical risk period of parturient paresis.

Viral infections are the greatest threat to waterfowl and cause significant economic losses. Diagnosis and differentiation of three goose viruses is difficult in the field and often requires laboratory confirmation. Therefore, the aim of the study was to develop a triplex PCR and optimise its parameters for simultaneous detection of DNA of goose parvovirus (GPV), goose polyomavirus (GHPV), and goose circovirus (GoCV). The DNA of viruses isolated from field cases from the National Veterinary Research Institute’s own collection was used for the study. The primer attachment temperature, the number of reaction cycles, and the Taq DNA polymerase and Mg²⁺ concentrations were optimised. The sensitivity and specificity of this triplex PCR was also determined. Based on the obtained results, triplex PCR parameters were optimised for simultaneous detection of DNA of GPV, GHPV, and GoCV in one sample. The following PCR products of the expected size were obtained: GPV DNA of 806 bp, GoCV DNA of 571 bp, and GHPV DNA of 180 bp. The developed triplex PCR method proved to be useful for simultaneous detection of infections with three waterfowl viruses and will be used in relevant laboratory diagnostics.