• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.127-130
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cows parity and calving seasons on the subsequent reproductive performance of the herd of Korean native cows raised under the same condition. With the parity of the cows ranged 1 to 4 (mean: 1.9), significant associations were found between parity and calving interval (p<0.05). Calving interval of the primiparous cows group was 395.0 ${\pm}$ 16.5 days, which was the longest calving interval among the four groups. On the other hand, calving interval of the second parity group was 333.7 ${\pm}$ 3.6 days. The primiparous cows had tendencies that long interval from calving to conception and small number of service per conception relatively when compared with the multiparous cows. In the case of calving season, the interval from calving to first service was short in summer and winter relatively. The interval from calving to conception in summer was the shortest in four seasons. The number of service per conception was larger in spring and winter and smaller in summer and autumn. Calving in spring showed delayed reproductive performance and calving in summer showed desirable reproductive performance.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.251-257
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• 2018

We determined the relationships between calving season and the incidence of postpartum disorders, milk yield, and reproductive performance in dairy cows. Data regarding cow parity, postpartum disorders, milk yield, and reproduction were collected from 1,478 lactations. The incidence of retained placenta was higher in spring- and summer-calving cows than in autumn- and winter-calving cows (P < 0.05). The incidence of septicemic metritis was highest in spring- and summer-calving cows, and was higher in autumn-calving cows than in winter-calving cows (P < 0.05). The incidence of metabolic disorders was higher in summer-calving cows than in autumn- and winter-calving cows (P < 0.01). The mean milk yield 1 and 2 months after calving was higher in spring-calving cows than in summer-calving cows (P < 0.05). The percentage of cows that had resumed cycling, defined by detection of a corpus luteum using ultrasonography 4 weeks after calving, was highest in autumn-calving cows, and was higher in summer- and winter-calving cows than in spring-calving cows (P < 0.05). The hazard of first insemination by 150 days after calving was higher in summer- and autumn-calving cows (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.19; P < 0.05) than in spring-calving cows. The hazard of pregnancy by 210 days after calving was also higher in summer-calving (HR = 1.24; P < 0.05) and autumn-calving (HR = 1.59; P < 0.0001) cows than in spring-calving cows. The probability of conception at the first insemination was higher (P < 0.0001) in autumn-calving (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96) and winter-calving (OR = 2.04) cows than in spring-calving cows. In conclusion, spring calving is associated with the worst, and autumn calving with the best, postpartum health and reproductive performance, whereas milk yield is higher in spring-calving cows than in summer-calving cows. Therefore, an effective strategy to support postpartum health and fertility should be instituted for spring-calving dairy cows kept in the Korean climate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.313-317
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• 1997

Data collected from crossbred dairy cattle at the Institut Haiwan, Kluang, were used to evaluate the effects of breed of sire, percentage of Bos taurus inheritance and season of birth on some calving traits. Breed of sire effect was significant on age at first service (p < 0.01), age at first calving (p < 0.01) and postpartum interval to first service (p < 0.05) but not on calving interval (p > 0.05). Linear contrasts indicate that crossbred-sired cows had first service 593 days earlier and first calving 508 days earlier than purebred-sired cows. Cows sired by Friesians, however, had the earliest first service (466 days) and were among the earliest at first calving (917 days). However, the crossbred-sired cows had slightly longer post-partum interval to first service (13 days longer) and calving interval (20 days longer). Percentage of B. taurus inheritance affected (p < 0.01) all the calving traits studied. In general, the cows with 50% inheritance had the best calving performance. Season of birth had no effect (p > 0.05) on them.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.1098-1102
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• 2002

A set of 313,169 reproduction records of Japanese Black cows calving between 1987 and 1996 were collected in nation widely Japan to investigate the current level of reproductive performances and the factors influencing the performances such as calving interval, first calving age, services per conception, calving difficulty, non-gestation period and gestation length. All the records of reproductive performances are outcome of artificial insemination. The means of first calving age, calving interval, non-gestation period and gestation length were 25.0 months, 389.9, 101.9 and 287.5 days, respectively. Services per conception were 1.41 and degree of calving difficulty was 1.07, which suggests most of the calving, did not need assistance. There were chronological tendencies that first calving age became younger while calving interval became longer. Differences in reproductive performance were found for seasons and calving numbers. Calving interval became shorter towards the fourth calving but became longer afterwards. The cows calving in May had the shortest calving interval followed by those in April and June and first calving age had a similar tendency. The cows with the standard body condition score showed more favourable reproductive performances compare with those with rather fatty or thin body condition scores.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2012

A study on estrus synchronized dairy cows using progesterone intravaginal device was done to classify each cow's reproductive status from calving to synchronization and to evaluate the reproductive performance according to ovarian and uterine status, and calving season. From calving to estrus synchronization, silent heat or error of estrus detection among ovarian status and endometritis among uterine disorders were exposed in the most distribution (75.4% and 48.3%, respectively). The pregnancy rate of cows with inactive ovaries was lower than those in the follicular and luteal phase. And according to the uterine status before estrus synchronization, the pregnancy rate was similar in three groups; normal, endometritis, and pyometra (70.9, 69.1 and 100%, respectively). The interval from calving to conception was shorter (p<0.05) in cows calved during autumn than in cows calved during spring and winter.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.93-96
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• 2016

This retrospective study evaluated the effect of age at first calving on the productive and reproductive performance in Holstein dairy cattle. Data were collected on 2,297 lactations from 19 dairy farms, including dates of birth, insemination, pregnancy, calving, and lactation and milk production (305-day milk yield at first lactation and lifetime milk yield). Lactation data were grouped based on age at first calving into the early (< 24 months, n = 414), moderate (24 ${\leq}$ and ${\leq}$ 28 months, n = 1,268), and late (> 28 months, n = 615) groups. The 305-day milk yield at first lactation was higher (p < 0.005) in the late group (8,461.9 kg) than in the early (8,130.8 kg) and moderate (8,261.9 kg) groups. Lifetime days in milk were shorter (p < 0.01) in the early group (1,045.7) than in the moderate (1,143.1) and late (1,110.7) groups, whereas the lifetime milk yield was higher (p < 0.05) in the moderate group (34,171.8 kg) than in the early group (31,791.6 kg). The second calving interval (days) differed (p < 0.0001) between the early (416.9), moderate (438.9), and late (455.3) groups. The culling rate at the first and second lactations tended to be higher (p = 0.08) in the early group (31.2%) than in the moderate group (26.0%), whereas it was intermediate in the late group (29.3%). In conclusion, dairy heifers aged 24-28 months at first calving showed a higher productive performance through an increased lifetime milk yield and a decreased culling rate.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.15.1-15.8
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• 2022

The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for repeat breeder dairy cows and their impact on reproductive performance. The characteristics of 1,504 cows, including their peripartum health, nutrition, production, and reproduction, were collected. Cows with metabolic disorder were significantly more likely (odds ratio [OR], 2.47; p < 0.001) and cows with clinical endometritis tended to be more likely (OR, 1.35; p < 0.1) to become repeat breeders than cows without metabolic disorder and clinical endometritis, respectively. Cows initially inseminated > 80 days after calving were less likely (OR, 0.78; p < 0.05) to become repeat breeders than cows initially inseminated ≤ 80 days after calving. As a result, repeat breeding in dairy cows resulted in a 90 day longer (p < 0.0001) mean interval from calving to pregnancy. In conclusion, postpartum metabolic disorder, clinical endometritis, and a short interval from calving to initial insemination were risk factors for repeat breeder dairy cows, resulting in a severely impaired reproductive performance.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.1360-1368
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• 2020

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine the associations of heifer reproductive performance with survival up to the first calving, first-lactation milk yield, and the probability of being culled within 50 days after first calving. Methods: Data from 33 large Holstein-Friesian commercial dairy herds were gathered from the official milk recording database in Hungary. The data of heifers first inseminated between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2014 were analyzed retrospectively, using Cox proportional hazards models, competing risks models, multivariate linear and logistic mixed-effects models. Results: Heifers (n = 35,128) with younger age at conception were more likely to remain in the herd until calving, and each additional month in age at conception increased culling risk by 5.1%. Season of birth was related to first-lactation milk yield (MY1; n = 19,931), with cows born in autumn having the highest milk production (p<0.001). The highest MY1 was achieved by heifers that first calved between 22.00 and 25.99 months of age. Heifers that calved in autumn had the highest MY1, whereas calving in summer was related to the lowest milk production (p<0.001). The risk of culling within 50 days in milk in first lactation (n = 21,225) increased along with first calving age, e.g. heifers that first calved after 30 months of age were 5.52-times more likely to be culled compared to heifers that calved before 22 months of age (p<0.001). Calving difficulty was related to higher culling risk in early lactation (p<0.001). Heifers that required caesarean section were 24.01-times more likely to leave the herd within 50 days after first calving compared to heifers that needed no assistance (p<0.001). Conclusion: Reproductive performance of replacement heifers is closely linked to longevity and milk production in dairy herds.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.153-158
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• 2004

Data containing 14,188 lactation and reproductive records of Korean Holstein cows at first parity distributed across 3,734 herd-year-season groups were analyzed to get genetic (co)variance estimates for milk yield, fat yield, calving ease, and days open. Milk and Fat yields were adjusted to 305 d. Heritabilities and genetic correlations were estimated in two different animal models on which were included direct genetic effects (Model 1) and direct+maternal genetic effects (Model 2) using REML algorithms. Milk and fat yields were affected by age at first calving as linear and quadratic. Heritability estimates of direct effects were 0.25 for milk yield, 0.17 for fat yield, 0.03 for calving ease and 0.03 for days open in Model 2. These estimates for maternal effects were 0.05, 0.08, 0.04 and less than 0.01 for each corresponding trait. Milk productions at first lactation were to show genetically favorable correlation with calving ease and days open for direct genetic effects (-0.24 - -0.11). Moreover, calving ease was correlated with days open of 0.30 for direct genetic effects. Correlations between direct and maternal effects for each trait were negatively correlated (-0.63 - -0.32). This study suggested that maternal additive genetic variance would be not ignorable for genetic evaluation of milk production as well as reproductive traits such as calving ease and days open at first parity. Furthermore, difficult calving would genetically influence the next conception.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1516-1519
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• 2001

The data consisted of 369 lactation records for calvings over a sixteen-year period (1972-1987) and included only cows that had normal milk records. The data were analysed using a linear model containing the fixed effects of parity, year of calving and season of calving. The least squares means${\pm}$S.E. were $1,273{\pm}58.4kg$ for milk yield, and for post-partum body weight (kg) at 2, 3 and 4 months after calving were $343.40{\pm}3.96$, $346.10{\pm}4.10$ and $352.54{\pm}4.26$, respectively. With the exception of season of calving, the effects of parity and year of calving were significant (p<0.01) on the performance of the animals. Thus, the mean-milk yields 1162, 1351 and 1350, were similar for pre-, peak- and post rainy seasons, respectively. On the other hand, as parity increased from 1 to 3, milk yield also increased, but thereafter, there was a gradual decline in milk yield. Similarly, post-partum body weight also increased with parity. However, no consistent pattern for year effect was observed which probably was a reflection of the variation in climatic conditions, or forage quality and/or availability. The phenotypic correlations between milk yield and post-partum body weights were negative and small (ranging from -0.01 to -0.08). However, high milk production in cows was associated with longer calving interval. The implications from the phenotypic correlations are suggestive of one or two possibilities. Firstly, selection for increased body weight may actually result in decreased milk yield. Also, a substantial genetic antagonism may exist between milk yield and fertility in the crossbred cows. Therefore, it is important that selection to improve milk production should take into consideration the reproductive performance of the cows.