Associations of postpartum lying time with culling, milk yield, cyclicity, and reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows

Abstract

The objectives were to evaluate the associations of lying time (LT) during the first 14 d in milk (DIM) with milk yield, cyclicity (CYC), culling within 60 DIM (CULL), and reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows. A total of 1,052 Holstein cattle (401 nulliparous heifers and 651 parous cows) from 3 commercial dairy farms had electronic data loggers (IceQube, IceRobotics, Edinburgh, UK) placed on a hind leg 14 ± 3 d before the expected parturition date and removed at 14 ± 3 DIM to assess their LT. Serum concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate were determined at 7 ± 3 and 14 ± 3 DIM. Cases of retained placenta, metritis, mastitis, pneumonia, and digestive disorders within 30 DIM were recorded and lactating cows were categorized into 1 of 4 groups: (1) nondiseased (ND, n = 613; cows without ketosis or any other diagnosed health condition); (2) cows with only ketosis (KET, n = 152); (3) sick cows experiencing ≥1 health conditions but without ketosis (SICK, n = 198); or (4) cows with ketosis plus ≥1 health condition (KET+, n = 61). Ultrasound was performed at 28 ± 3 and 42 ± 3 DIM to assess ovarian cyclicity (presence or absence of corpus luteum). Milk yield at first Dairy Herd Improvement Association test was not associated with LT during the first 14 DIM, but it was negatively correlated with the coefficient of variation of LT during the first 14 DIM. Lactating dairy cows experiencing KET+ had the lowest milk yield compared with ND, regardless of parity. Parity, health status, and season were significantly associated with CYC and CULL. Lying time had a significantly linear association with the risk of being culled: for every 1-h increment of LT during 0 to 14 DIM, the risk of culling within 60 DIM increased by 1 percentage point. Lying time had a negative quadratic association with cyclicity at 42 DIM. Multiparous cows with a LT of 9 to 13 h/d had a significantly greater probability of pregnancy up to 300 DIM compared with cows with a LT >13 h/d. Regardless of parity, KET+ cows had significantly higher proportion of culling within 60 DIM and decreased probability of pregnancy up to 300 DIM compared with ND cows. These findings suggest that there is an optimum daily LT range for early postpartum cows housed in freestall barns, different from that reported for mid-lactation cows, with the potential for improved survival, health, and the overall performance (milk yield and reproduction).Data pertaining to diseases (retained placenta, mastitis, pneumonia, and digestive disorders) within the first 30 DIM, culling within 60 DIM (CULL; cows sold, 3364 PIÑEIRO ET AL.the potential for improved survival, health, resumption of cyclicity, and subsequent overall performance. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSCollaborating dairy farms and their staff are greatly appreciated for providing the animals used in this study; we are also grateful to graduate and undergraduate students for their assistance during the project. Also, the laboratory support from D. J. Wyatt (The Ohio State University, Wooster) and D. Mollenkopf (The Ohio State University,...

Invited review: Lying time and the welfare of dairy cows

“…For example, Itle et al (2015) found that cows suffering from ketosis spent less time lying soon after parturition, compared with healthy cows, and Villettaz Robichaud et al 2019reported that freestall herds with longer lying times also have fewer hock injuries. However, others have reported that cows with higher lying times are also at greater risk for culling in the first 60 DIM (Piñeiro et al, 2019).…”

The Transition Period Updated: A Review of the New Insights into the Adaptation of Dairy Cows to the New Lactation

“…Several studies have been performed on biological fluids of transitioning dairy cows (i.e., urine, blood, saliva, rumen fluid) using different analytical procedures. Research efforts have focused on identifying candidate biomarkers that might reflect 'at risk' condition for developing early lactation diseases (i.e., ketosis, mastitis, metritis, lameness, retained placenta, and milk fever) [126][127][128]. Considering the extent of this topic, this review will be only focused on predictive markers allowing a close monitoring of the immune status of dairy cows that are approaching to calving.…”

Production and Health Management from Grazing to Confinement Systems of Largest Dairy Bovine Farms in Azores: A Farmers’ Perspective

“…Appropriate nutritional management of the peripartum cow is essential to avoid such problems [ 65 ], together with other practices [ 66 ], reducing the incidence of postpartum problems such as retained placenta, mastitis, metritis, and endometritis. These issues can all lead to several economic losses, and early culling rates [ 66 , 67 ]. Certain nutritional supplements, such as vitamin D, lysine, methionine, and others can be considered, in order to increase performance after calving [ 68 , 69 ].…”