The study was performed between February and July
2012, at a commercial dairy farm in the prefecture of
Taranto (Apulian Region, South Italy), consisting of 280
Holstein Friesian cows kept in a semi-intensive regimen
and fed pasture, hay, minerals and concentrates; fresh
water was available ad libitum. Two clinical examinations
were performed 10 days apart using transrectal palpation
and ultrasonography (SonoSite, MicroMaxx Bothell,
WA, USA, linear probe 5–10 MHz, set at 7.5 MHz). This
was used to diagnose cystic ovarian follicles in 30 cows,
with a total of 60 cows (including those with CF) chosen
and enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of ovarian follicular
cysts was performed ultrasonographically, keeping into
account the criteria indicated by Silvia et al. (2005), i.e.:
mean diameter of at least 17 mm, wall thickness