Associations between nondietary factors and dairy herd performance

Abstract

Forty-seven dairy herds (approximately 3,129 lactating cows) from northeast of Spain that were offering exactly the same lactating ration were surveyed to determine the effect of nondietary factors on herd performance. The survey collected information on the profile of the owners (their future intentions, the number of workers, and time devoted to the enterprise), information regarding the animals (reproductive performance, incidence of pathology, culling rate, etc.), information on the facilities (number of feeders, waters, stalls, cleanliness, etc.) and information on management practices (numbers of daily milkings, feed deliveries, feed push-ups, cleaning frequency, etc.). In addition, the chemical quality of drinking water from each dairy enterprise was determined. Also, amount of feed delivered to each herd, daily total milk production, and milk quality were obtained for each herd for a period of 8 mo before the fulfillment of the survey. Mortality rate of calves tended to be lesser in herds that weaned progressively than in those that weaned abruptly. Age at first calving was negatively correlated with level of milk production (mainly due to the type of heifer rearing system used). Culling rate tended to be lower in herds that used a close-up ration than in those that did not. Using gloves and paper towels (instead of cloth towels) tended to reduce the somatic cell count in milk. Concentration of calcium in the drinking water tended to be negatively correlated with the number of days open and with the proportion of cows culled due to infertility problems. Despite that the 47 herds fed the same ration and shared a similar genetic base, average milk production per cow ranged from 20.6 to 33.8 kg/d. A positive relationship (r = 0.57) between the number of stalls per cow and milk production was found. The most important nondietary factors that affected milk production in these dairy herds were age at first calving, presence or absence of feed refusals, number of free stalls per lactating cow, and whether feed was pushed up in the feed bunk. These factors accounted for more than 50% of the observed variation, not attributable to the diet, in milk yield.