Factors associated with 56‑day non‑return rate in dairy cattle

The objective of this work was to identify factors associated with the 56-day non-return rate (56-NRR) in dairy herds in the Galician region, Spain, and to estimate it for individual Holstein bulls. The experiment was carried out in herds originated from North-West Spain, from September 2008 to August 2009. Data of the 76,440 first inseminations performed during this period were gathered. Candidate factors were tested for their association with the 56-NRR by using a logistic model (binomial). Afterwards, 37 sires with a minimum of 150 first performed inseminations were individually evaluated. Logistic models were also estimated for each bull, and predicted individual 56‑NRR rate values were calculated as a solution for the model parameters. Logistic regression found four major factors associated with 56-NRR in lactating cows: age at insemination, days from calving to insemination, milk production level at the time of insemination, and herd size. First-service conception rate, when a particular sire was used, was higher for heifers (0.71) than for lactating cows (0.52). Non-return rates were highly variable among bulls. A significant part of the herd‑level variation of 56‑NRR of Holstein cattle seems attributable to the service sire. High correlation level between observed and predicted 56-NRR was found. 

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fouz, Ramiro, Gandoy, Fernando, Sanjuán, María Luisa, Yus, Eduardo, Diéguez, Francisco Javier
Format: Digital revista
Language:eng
Published: Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira 2011
Online Access:https://seer.sct.embrapa.br/index.php/pab/article/view/9423
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