Abstract
Relationship Between Body Condition Score Change During the Prepartum Period and Week Four Milk Yield of Dairy Cows
Highlights
Evaluation of postpartum performance is critical to monitor transition cow programs of dairy herds
The objectives of the study were to (1) evaluate the association between body condition score (BCS) change in the prepartum period and week four milk yield and (2) explore whether average week four milk yield can be used as an indicator of the percentage of cows having BCS loss before calving at the herd level
Monitoring average week four milk yield does not appear to be a reliable indicator of the percentage of cows that underwent excessive BCS loss in the prepartum period
Summary
Evaluation of postpartum performance is critical to monitor transition cow programs of dairy herds. Poor transitions from late gestation to early lactation can affect health, production, reproduction, and lifetime profit of dairy cows. Events such as pen moves and diet changes during the transition period may impair postpartum performance. It is possible that reduced week four milk yield of the herd may indicate limited feed intake in the pre- and postpartum period, substantial changes of body condition score (BCS) during the transition period, and increased proportion of cows with postpartum diseases. To our knowledge, no published studies have evaluated the validity of week four milk yield for monitoring transition cow programs at the herd level. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the association between BCS change in the prepartum period and week four milk yield and explore the possibility of using week four milk yield as an indicator of percentage of cows that had excessive BCS loss before calving
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