Risk factors associated with abnormal parturition and their effects on production and reproductive performance in Frieswal cattle of India

Abstract

Records of 1024 Frieswal cows maintained at the Military Farm, Meerut, India over a period of 20 years from 1989 to 2008, sired by 91 bulls were included in the present study to assess the incidence and risk factors associated with abnormal parturition like dystocia, stillbirth, premature birth and abortion. The overall incidence of abnormal parturition in this herd of Frieswal was 14.01%, out of which 7.91, 3.99, 1.12 and 0.99% correspond to stillbirth, abortion, dystocia and premature birth. Wald Chi square analysis revealed season of calving (p<0.04), period of calving (p<0.0001) and parity (p<0.0008) influenced normal calving. The effect of abnormal parturition on the total milk yield, lactation length, calving interval and dry period was also assessed along with other non-genetic factors viz., season, period of calving and parity. A reduction in milk yield was observed (p<0.01) in animals which had undergone abnormal parturition (2723.75± 67.88 kg) in comparison to normally calved animals (3310.08± 35.36 kg). The dry period was also found to be longer in abnormally calved animals (127.18±4.63 days) than normal ones (117.75±2.39 days). Regular monitoring and better reproductive management will surely reduce the incidence of abnormal parturition, and thereby increase the production and reproductive performance of the animals.

Investigating reasons for lower birth weight in crossbred calves

“…Later showed increasing trend across the period and it was the lowest in 2005-07 (22.31±0.42 kg) and highest in 2014-15 (23.92±0.50 kg). Our results corroborated the findings of earlier workers (Bakir et al 2004, Kumar et al 2008. Difference in performance across the periods reflected variation in environmental conditions (temperature and relative humidity), feeding, hygiene and dam management during gestation period (Manzi et al 2012).…”

“…Heritability of birth weight in the present investigation was medium (0.24±0.08). Similar estimates of heritability (h 2 = 0.21) was also reported by Kumar et al (2008) in Frieswal (crossbred) cattle. Several other authors however reported higher estimate of heritability (h 2 = 0.29) of birth weight in crossbred cattle (Mandal andSachdeva 1999, Singh et al 2011).…”

“…The least squares means of birth weight in crossbred calves was 21.92±0.10 kg. It was slightly lower as compared to other crossbreds like Frieswal (26.93 kg) (Gaur et al 2006, Kumar et al 2008, Karan-Fries (27.3 kg) (Singh and Gurnani 2002), Karan-Swiss (28.03 kg) (Mandal and Sachdeva 1999) and Sunandini (28.4 kg) (Muhammed et al 2015). The difference in birth weight in various crossbreds could be due to the genetic makeup of the herds and management practices adopted at different farms.…”

Importance of Genetic Evaluation of Dairy Cattle for Functional Traits: A Review

“…The reasons of economic losses due to abnormal calving include increased numbers of days open, reduced longevity, less milk yield and calf loss (Bicalho et al 2008). Kumar et al (2017) assessed the effect of calving abnormalities and found declining trend of production and reproduction performances in Frieswal cows that experienced an abnormal parturition. Fertility problems in dairy animals may be arisen as a consequence of abnormal calvings.…”