Med. Weter. 71 (1), 36-40, 2015
full text
| Olechnowicz J., Jaśkowski J.M. |
| Associations between different degrees of lameness in early lactation and the fertility of dairy cows |
| The objective of this study was to compare calving to first service and calving to conception intervals, as well as first and overall conception rates between cows classified as non-lame, moderately lame, or lame during the first four months after calving. During this period cows were examined for lameness every two weeks, and they were scored fortnightly using a 5-point locomotion scoring system according to Sprecher et al. (27). The data were collected between 2008 and 2009 from 24 primiparous and 57 multiparous cows, which calved from October 2008 to April 2009. Cows clinically lame had a longer time to first service when compared with cows which were never lame, and with mildly lame cows, but this difference was not significant. Similarly, no differences were found in time to conception. The mean number of services per conception was lower in lame than in non-lame cows. No significant associations were found in this study between different degrees of lameness and fertility. |
| Key words: cows, locomotion score, lameness, calving to first service interval, calving to conception interval, conception rate |