Longevity of high-yielding cows (original) (raw)
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Annals of Animal Science
The effect of crossbreeding Holstein-Friesian cows with other breeds is usually improved genetic potential of crossbreds in terms of longevity. However, culling decisions, which in practice determine the longevity in dairy cows, are contingent on many environmental and economic factors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate longevity in relation to culling reasons in Holstein-Friesian cows of the Black-and-White strain (HO) and crossbreds, taking genotype, age at first calving, herd size, culling season, culling reason and milking temperament into consideration. The data analysed concerned 154,256 dairy cows culled in Poland in 2015. It was found that all studied factors significantly affected cow lifetime performance. The mean age at culling in dairy cows of HO strain exceeded 6 years, with mean lifetime energy-corrected milk (LECM) yield of 28,933 kg and mean lifetime energy-corrected milk yield per milking day (DECM) of 20.2 kg. Crossbreds, on the other hand, tended to...
Study on the Age at First Calving and the Longevity of Beef Cows
Journal of Central European Agriculture, 2006
The age at fi rst calving, the life span and the longevity of cows have great importance in cattle husbandry, especially in beef cow husbandry, because the cost of raising weaned calves depends largely on how early cows calve and how long they remain in production. If cows are productive extendedly and raise more progeny, specifi c costs of raising per calf decrease proportionally. Consideration of life span and, specifi cally, longevity plays an important role in practical breeding. The present work summarizes the results of the studie conducted in this fi eld. A database of altogether 2115 cows belonging to fi ve breeds (Hungarian Grey, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Limousin and Charolais) and two crossbred genotypes (Simmental x Hereford F1, Simmental x Limousin F1) born between 1977-1992 was evaluated. Age at fi rst calving (AFC), age at culling (ACU), moreover longevity (LONG) were studied. Ms Excel and SPSS for Windows 11.0 were used for statistical analyses. The mean values of AF...
Research on longevity and cause of reduction of herd life in Holstein cows
2015
Through this research we intend to analyze the Holstein herds in farms of various sizes from Teleorman County to highlight the productive performance of the breed and to emphasize the similarities, respective the differences that were found in the studied farms and furthermore, another goal of the study was to show that the breed is very valuable.The Holstein cows studied for this paper are from various origins (Germain, France, Netherlands). The material studied is represented by the dairy cows that were send to slaughterhouse from 5 farms, representing 1200 heads.The lifetime of the animal is defined by two aspects, namely, the biological longevity and the productive longevity.We can observed, from the data processed and interpreted by us, that the greatest biological longevity was registered in farm 1 (6.27 years), where the productive longevity was 3 years old.The highest frequency of reproductive disturbances was registered in the farm No.4 (58.33%) and farm No. 3 (55%).The dat...
Breeding for longevity and survival in dairy cattle
Thc aim of dairy cattle brceding should be to improvc lifetime profit, rattrer than longevity in itsclf. It is most likcly, though, O16t traits rhar dercrmine longevity will be selccad for, and thus the ability to livc longer will improve. Health and rcproductive traits are describcd as the most imporrant in dercrmining longevity. The main focus of the articlc is on describing methods used as indicators of longevity: sayabilities, sundval scores, and failure time analysis. Mcasurcs of prcduction ard involuntary cdting (c.g. mastitis, reproduaion) are suggested for usc as selection criterion, if measured in the population. If not, other indicalor traits, such as somatic cell counts, could bc used irsrcad. If no or few hcalth and reproduction traits arc available in a population, breeding values for length of pmductivc lifc adjustcd for thc within-herd milk production deviuion, analyzed with failure time analysis' could bc used as a complement to milk production.
Animal, 2016
Cow longevity and lifetime performance traits are good indicators of breeding effectiveness and animal welfare. They are also interrelated with the economics of dairy herd. Unfortunately, a high milk yield is often associated with deteriorated cow health and fertility and, consequently, with an increased culling rate. This situation, observed also in the Polish population of Holstein-Friesian cattle, inspired us to undertake a study on the associations between some factors and lifetime performance characteristics. The data set consisted of the records on 135 496 cows, including 131 526 of the Black and White strain (BW), and 3970 of the Red and White strain (RW) covered by performance recording and culled in 2012. It was found that cows of the BW strain and those from the largest herds (>100 cows) reached higher lifetime and mean daily energy-corrected milk (ECM) yields than cows of the RW strain and those from smaller herds culled at a similar age. Cows youngest at first calving...
Body condition and longevity of high yielding dairy cows
Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry, 2012
Body condition of high yielding Holstein-Friesian dairy cows changes during the production cycle. It represents important indicator of achieved level of nutrition and degree of nourishment. BCS is a functional method, and integral part of the strategy and basis of corrective activities in farm management. BCS of cows in all phases of production cycle is important indicator of applied nutrition, but also of the technological process sin general. The amount of body reserves in form of fat tissue cow has before calving as huge impact on incidence of potential post-calving problems, production of milk, reproductive efficiency and health condition. Very often animals are culled from the herds prematurely, which shortenes the life exploitation of cows. Longevity is the ability to survice in certain production conditions. Life expectancy is from the economical aspect the most important functional trait of high yielding cows and represents necessary condition for sustainability of milk prod...
Analysis of factors affecting the length of productive life in Croatian dairy cows
an analysis of factors affecting productive life of croatian dairy cows was carried out using a proportional hazard model based on Weibull distribution, using Survival kit 6.0. the data consisted of 62,877 Simmental and 43,653 Holstein cows collected from october 1, 1992 until December 11, 2009. cows alive at the end of the study (20.1% Holstein, 19.4% Simmental) were considered as right censored. the probability of being culled was assigned as a product of the baseline hazard function and the function of explanatory variables. the factors that most affected the length of productive life were parity, year * season and milk production level within a herd, all time dependent variables. The risk decreased with parity. Animals in first parity were most exposed to risk of culling, that is about 21 times (Holstein) and about 14 times (Simmental) more than the animals in fourth parity, which was assigned as a reference class. the year * season effect showed linear increase of risk to be culled, with a peak year 2007. Relation between milk production level and the risk ratios indicated slightly non-linear trend. very low producing animals (less than 1.5 standard deviations below average) were at 1.311 (Holstein) and 1.265 (Simmental) times higher risk to be culled than the average producing cows. at the same time, the Simmental cows from small herds (<5 cows) were at even higher risks of being culled according to their milk production. Results of the herd size effect indicated increase of culling risk in bigger herds under assumption of higher selection intensity. The effect of age at first calving, as well as effect of region had lowest influence on the length of productive life.
Analysis of lifetime performance in Karan Fries Cattle
Indian Journal of Animal Research, 2017
Present investigation includes the study of the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors and estimation of genetic parameters with respect to lifetime production and reproduction traits of Karan Fries cattle. Data consisted of a total of 5878 lactation records on 1988 cows over a period of 32years (1981 to 2012), maintained at ICAR-NDRI, Karnal. Overall least-squares means for LT2 (kg), LT3 (kg), LT4 (kg), LT5 (kg), ALTMY (kg), PL (days), HL (days), MY/PL (kg/day), MY/HL (kg/day), BE (%), LTDPR were found to be 7907.57±121.21, 12714.68±226.90, 17720.46±338.52, 22282.97±529.00, 15946.45±256.85, 1510.36±21.46, 2571.25±27.31, 9.87±0.11, 5.70±0.07, 89.30±0.84, 0.37±1.22, respectively. Both production and fertility lifetime traits were significantly affected by different factors viz. season of birth, period of birth, genetic group and normal lactations completed. LSANOVA heritability estimates of LT2, LT3, LT4, ALTMY, MY/PL, MY/HL, BE, LTDPR, PL and HL were 0.29±0.09, 0.30±0.12, 0.29±0....
Archives Animal Breeding, 2016
In recent decades, there has been a downward trend in length of productive life (LPL) in Holstein cows across industrial dairy herds. This study examined the factors that might influence LPL and estimated the genetic parameters of LPL in Holstein dairy herds in Isfahan province, Iran. LPL is defined as the number of days between the first calving and the end of recording. Data consisted of 35 137 records of productive life from registered cows that started first calving between 1991 and 2012. Cows that remained alive at the end of the study were considered right-censored. The average lifetime for culled and censored cows was 938 and 1003 days, respectively. A survival analysis was applied using a proportional risk model with a Weibull distribution. Milk production was divided into five groups, where the culling risk of cows with a milk yield of less than 1.5 standard deviations (SD) of the mean was 3.5 times greater than the culling risk of high-producing cows producing more than 1.5 SD above the mean. Results showed that culling risk increased almost linearly beyond the milk production groups. Furthermore, somatic cell count and age at first calving significantly increased the culling risk across the herds. The results for the combined effect of parity × stage of lactation showed a decrease in culling risk during the first calving, and an increase during the further parities. Moreover, a higher age at first calving was observed, reflecting a lower risk of culling. Estimated heritability were 0.074 and 0.18 based on a logarithmic scale and original scale, respectively. According to the results, use of Weibull models showed that the proportional culling risk was higher in low-production cows, but a higher risk ratio was revealed in high-milk-production cows. However, there were some fluctuations in genetic trends, but an overall increase was observed in LPL which will lead to a longer LPL of Holstein cows in Isfahan province.
Genetic evaluation of longevity in dairy cattle
Applied Science Reports
Longevity is a highly desirable trait that considerably affects overall profitability. With increased longevity, the mean production of the herd increases because a greater proportion of the culling decisions are based on production. Longevity did not receive adequate attention in breeding programs because genetic evaluation for this trait is generally difficult as some animals are still alive at the time of genetic evaluation. Therefore, three basic strategies were suggested to evaluate longevity for cows: Firstly, cow survival to a specific age, which can be analyzed as a binary trait by either linear or threshold models. Secondly, estimating life expectancy of live cows and including these records in a linear model analysis. Thirdly, survival analysis: a method of combining the information of dead (uncensored) and alive (censored) cows in same analysis. This review represents an attempt to shed a light on different strategies of genetic evaluation of longevity in dairy cattle in most of developed countries.