Body Condition Score and Body Weight Effects on Dystocia and Stillbirths and Consequent Effects on Postcalving Performance

Abstract

The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of periparturient body condition score (BCS) and body weight (BW) related traits on the incidence of calving dystocia and stillbirths, and to determine any consequent effect of dystocia and stillbirths on BCS, BW, milk production, udder health, and fertility in grazing Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. Up to 2,384 lactation records with data on calving dystocia or stillbirths were available from one research herd across 15 yr. Mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used to quantify all effects. Body condition score or BW 8 wk precalving or at calving, or change precalving did not significantly affect the odds of a difficult calving or stillbirth. Cows that experienced dystocia lost, on average, more BCS and BW between calving and nadir and had significantly reduced nadir BCS and BW. Incidence of stillbirths did not affect BCS in early lactation, although BW loss postpartum was greater following a stillbirth. A dystocia or stillbirth event was associated with reduced 60-d milk yield (42 and 52 kg less milk produced following a difficult calving or a stillbirth, respectively). The effect of stillbirth on milk yield was independent of dystocia. Cows that experienced dystocia had reduced milk concentration of fat, protein, and lactose, whereas average somatic cell score (natural logarithm of somatic cell count) in the first 60-d postpartum was elevated. There was no significant effect of dystocia or stillbirth on clinical mastitis, but pregnancy rates to first service and throughout the 12-wk breeding season were compromised in cows that had experienced difficulty at calving. The significance of the effects of stillbirth on somatic cell score and reduced fertility were mediated through its association with dystocia. In conclusion, periparturient BCS and BW within the range observed in the current study did not significantly affect incidence of dystocia and stillbirth, but these events negatively affected cow performance in early lactation.

Prevalence of, and risk factors associated with, perinatal calf mortality in pasture-based Holstein-Friesian cows

“…The likelihood of perinatal mortality was approximately 3-times as high in primiparae compared with pluriparae, a finding similar to the range (1.5 to 2.6) reported previously (Szenci and Kiss, 1982;Steinbock et al, 2003;Berry et al, 2007), indicating that perinatal mortality is a different trait in younger and older cows. While most of this differential is attributable to the significant interaction between parity and calving assistance rate shown here, recent research in sheep has shown that first parity animals had smaller and less efficient placentas resulting in less viable lambs than those of older sheep (Dwyer et al, 2005).…”

“…The odds ratios found here are within the wide range (2.7 to 14.6) reported for the effects of calving assistance on perinatal mortality in dairy herds (Chassagne et al, 1999;Johanson and Berger 2003;Berry et al, 2007). While dystocia is often listed as the most significant risk factor for perinatal mortality, the results of the present study and of others (McGuirk et al, 1999;Meyer et al, 2001;Sorge, 2005) show that even slight calving assistance is associated with increased risk of perinatal mortality.…”

“…The range in odds ratios for twinning-associated perinatal mortality reported here (5.70 to 13.36) includes the odds ratio of 11.9 reported by Berry et al (2007) in pasturebased New Zealand dairy cows. Nonetheless, given its low, but increasing (Silva del Rio et al, 2007), prevalence, the impact of twinning on overall perinatal mortality rate is low, except in individual herds where twinning rates are high.…”

“…In addition, Szenci and Kiss (1982), Ansari-Lari (2007) and Berry et al (2007) did not detect significant differences in perinatal mortality rate between calf sexes, for certain breeds. These differences may be partially attributable to the inclusion of dystocia in their models, which may have masked some of the effect of calf gender on perinatal mortality given the increased probability of dystocia in male calves (Chassagne et al, 1999;Berry et al, 2007;Lombard et al, 2007). However, after adjusting for degree of calving assistance in our multiple regression model, calf gender still significantly affected perinatal mortality.…”

Questionnaire identifying management practices surrounding calving on spring-calving dairy farms and their associations with herd size and herd expansion

“…Appropriate feeding of the dry cow (Mulligan and Doherty, 2008), calving facilities and calving management are all essential to optimizing the health of newborn calves (Gulliksen et al, 2009a). Over or underfeeding the dry cow influences her body condition score (BCS), changes in which may lead to a greater incidence of dystocia (Berry et al, 2007) thus appropriate nutrition of the dry cow is crucial. In addition to dry cow nutrition, monitoring of the cow around calving is important for successful healthy calf births (Lombard et al, 2007).…”