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Reasons and timing of cows leaving herd in dairy cows using survival analysis methodology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

A. Heravi Moussavi ,
M. Danesh Mesgaran ,
E. Dirandeh ,
A. Pirzadeh Naeini  and
R. Noorbakhsh
A. Heravi Moussavi*
Affiliation:
Dept of Animal Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
M. Danesh Mesgaran
Affiliation:
Dept of Animal Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
E. Dirandeh
Affiliation:
Dept of Animal Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
A. Pirzadeh Naeini
Affiliation:
Dept of Animal Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
R. Noorbakhsh
Affiliation:
Dept of Animal Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan, Iran
*
Email:[email protected]
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Extract

Cow longevity is highly related to dairy farm profit. Cows are culled for a variety of reasons. The predominant reasons for culling are reproduction (i.e., failure to conceive), health, and low production (Bascom and Young, 1998). Half of the herd removals occur involuntarily and prematurely because of health disorders (Beaudeau et al., 2000). The decision to cull is a complex one. Farmers may consider many individual (such as age, stage of lactation, milk production, health status, and reproductive performance) and economic (such as milk price, the price of culled cows, and the price and availability of replacement heifers) factors when deciding to cull a cow. On the other hand, the risk of culling is not consistent across all stages of lactation. Cows experience the highest risk shortly after calving (Fetrow et al., 2006). Survival analysis allows for a more appropriate management of censored data and time-dependent covariates. Analyses of the reason and timing of culling is needed to predict herd performance. The objective of this study was to study the reasons and timing of cows leaving herd in two large Holstein dairy farms in Iran.

Type
Poster Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2007 , April 2007 , pp. 150
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2007

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References

Bascom, S.S. and Young, A. J. 1998. A summary of the reasons why farmers cull cows. J. Dairy Sci. 81: 2299–2305.Google Scholar
Beaudeau, F., Seegers, H., Ducrocq, V., Fourichon, C. and Bareille, N. 2000. Effect of health disorders on culling in dairy cows: a review and a critical discussion. Ann. Zootech. 49: 293–311.Google Scholar
Fetrow, J., Nordlund, K.V. and Norman, H.D. 2006. Culling: nomenclature, definitions, and recommendations. J. Dairy Sci. 89: 1896–1905.Google Scholar