Effect of crude protein on fertility and urea content of the body fluids of high-yielding cows

Abstract

A total of 36 high-yielding cows were -- post partum -- divided into two analogous groups. During the following 90 days they received rations containing 14.5 resp. 19.1% crude protein. The daily milk yield ranged between 27.8 and 28.8 kg resp. 29.4 and 31 kg FCM. The urea content of the milk reached 16.8 and 33.8, that in the blood plasma 19.7 and 38.8 mg/100 ml. The correlation between urea content in milk and blood serum was r = 0.94, between milk and urea content in urine r = 0.69. The period between gravidities of 82 days (14.4%) in contrast to 127 days (19.1%) was distinctly improved, and so was the insemination index (2.0 resp. 2.8). We consider 14.5% crude protein meet the requirement for yields of 30 kg milk, which is approximately 15% below the norm.