Decisive heifer management for improved lactation and reduced dystocia requires a systematic analysis of age, body weight (BW), and average daily gain (ADG) using an adequately large sample size. The objective of this study was to determine effects of BW and age at first breeding and ADG until pregnancy on yields of milk, milk fat, and milk protein in the first lactation and the occurrence of d...

Good management of the pregnant heifer is crucial to ensure that she is well grown and healthy and calves down easily before joining the milking herd. This study collected primary data on all aspects of heifer management on 101 UK farms during heifer pregnancy from conception to calving including farm factors and associated costs of system inputs. A cost analysis workbook was developed to calcu...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of birth weight (BW) on future milk production and reproductive performance in Iranian Holstein cattle. Records of Holstein cows between 1967 and 2010 were obtained from the Animal Breeding Center of Iran. Birth weights within each herd were grouped into five categories based on the standard normal distribution curves (z ≤-0.8416, -0.841...

The objective of this study was to evaluate main indicators of milk production on total 60 commercial dairy herds from the Czech Republic during a 9-yr period (2006-2014). Breakeven points and sensitivity analysis were used and associations of age at first calving (AFC), milk yield (MY) and calving interval (CI) were analyzed. Lowest AFC≤749 d showed the highest fertility, the lowest death rate...

The search for ways to select for improved beef cow efficiency has become the holy grail of the beef cattle seedstock industry. Increases in beef production have often been possible due to enhancements in the reproduction indexes (e.g. calving frequency, age at first calving, calving interval), nutrition concepts (e.g. strategic supplementation, type of forage as well as quantity and quality), ...