Patent ID: 7943143

Claim:
A method for increasing milk production in dairy cows comprising: vaccinating a dairy cow with one or more doses of an immunogenic composition comprising: (a) a chimeric polypeptide having the immunogenicity of somatostatin comprising an amino acid sequence of somatostatin-14 represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 linked to a substantially inactive and truncated chloramphenicol acetyl transferase polypeptide having a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 8, and SEQ ID NO: 9, wherein the somatostatin-14 is linked to the inactive chloramphenicol acetyl transferase by a spacer; and (b) a pharmaceutically suitable adjuvant in an amount effective to elicit an immune response; and allowing for at least ten days during which a dairy cow's milk production will increase as compared to the same cow's milk production in the absence of the vaccination.