Original scientific paper

Influence of nutrition in the postparturient period on the fertility of dairy cows

Darko Gereš ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Romana Turk ; Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Damir Žubčić ; Clinic for Internal Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Berislav Vulić ; Dairy cows farm «Salaš», Marijanci, Donji Miholjac, Croatia
Neven Staklarević
Branimira Ževrnja ; Clinic for Obstetrics and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Essentially, nutrition affects the fertility of dairy cows. The incidence of functional forms of subfertility is constantly increasing, especially due to disturbances in the balance of degradable proteins and energy in forage. This research was undertaken on one hundred primiparous Frisian dairy cows, divided into two groups (group A, n=50; group B, n=50) in the early breeding period, 44th to 52nd day postpartum. Average lactation in both groups was 32 litres of milk. Gynaecological findings in group A were: proestrus 5, oestrus 3, dioestrus 6, cystic ovarian disease (COD) 6, anoestrus 24, endometritis 4 and pyometra 2. Findings in group B: proestrus 6, oestrus 5, dioestrus 6, COD 5, anoestrus 21, endometritis 4, pyometra 3. All cows with clinically diagnosed with endometritis, pyometra and COD were treated twice or three times with synthetic prostaglandin F2alfa analogues. Over three weeks the cows from group A were fed extensively, ad libitum, and the feed was composed of corn silage (50% less than in the feed for group B) lucerne haylage, lucerne hay and 10% concentrated type food without soybean, maize and sunflower cake, with barley and cca 70-80% bran. Cows from group B were fed with standard farm concentrated mixture for dairy cows (meal of 34.5 kg of food was composed of corn silage, lucerne haylage, lucerne hay and c 19% concentrated type food, with 20.03 kg of dry matter and 16.3% proteins. The concentrated type food was composed of soybean (6%), maize (20%), sunflower cake (1%), TMR Camisan (5%), bran (50%) and barley (18%). Three weeks later the gynaecological findings in groups A:B were: proestrus 19:7, oestrus 7:6, dioestrus 20:6, COD 0:7, anoestrus 3:20, endometritis 1:3, pyometra 0:1. Within one hundred days from calving 29 cows from group A (58%) conceived, with average service time of 94 days, and 14 cows (28%) from group B conceived, with average service time of 96 days. Up to the 150th day of lactation 47 cows from group A (94%), and 36 (72%) from the control group conceived. Average lactation during the three weeks of research was 30 litres in group A, and 31 litres of milk in group B. In the beginning of the research, the body condition score of the cows was between 1.5 and 2.5 points. On the 100th day after calving the cows from group B were unequal in condition (BCS from 1.5 to 3.25, average 2.03 points), and cows from group A were equal in condition with an average of BCS 2.93. On the 150th day after calving the average BCS of cows from group A was 3.04, and cows from group B 2.69. Cows . fed with corrected nutrition with natural high rumen-degradable proteins showed good reactions to the procedures of introduction to breeding. The goal of this study was to compare the effects of two different regimes of nutrition on the beginning of reproduction and on reproductive efficiency, i.e. to prove the better effect of nutrition rich in rumen-degradable proteins compared to standard farm mixture for nutrition of diary cows in lactation.

Keywords

dairy cow; subfertility; postparturient period

Hrčak ID:

37318

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/37318

Publication date:

20.4.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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