Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (5): 2203-2218.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2025.05.020

• Animal Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Impact of Health Events on Important Economic Traits in Holstein Lactating Cows

ZHANG Junxing1,2,3(), SHENG Hui1,4(), HAN Liyun1, ZHANG Hailiang2, ZHANG Yi2, CAI Bei1, MA Yun1,*(), WANG Yachun2,*()   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding, School of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, National Engineering Laboratory of Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    3. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Breeding and Healthy Husbandry, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300384, China
    4. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Breeding and Biotechnology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Animal Healthy Farming, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300381, China
  • Received:2024-09-23 Online:2025-05-23 Published:2025-05-27
  • Contact: MA Yun, WANG Yachun E-mail:junxingzhang163@163.com;shengjhui@163.com;mayun_666@126.com;wangyachun@cau.edu.cn

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Abstract:

This study aimed to analyze the effect of health events on fertility, milk production and culling rates in dairy cows by using large-scale population data. Data were collected from 58 549 lactating cows calved between 2015 and 2021 in 13 farms in Ningxia, included 25 health events (6 composite traits and 19 independent traits), 4 fertility traits, 5 milk production traits and culling rates data. The GLM process of SAS 9.2 was used to analyze the impact of health events on economically important traits; Logistic regression models were used to analyze the effect of health events on culling rate of cows. The occurrence of health events lengthened the interval from calving to first insemination (ICF) by 1.51 d, increased the interval from first to last insemination (IFL) by 13.24 d, increased the days open (DO) by 15.42 d and the calving interval (CI) by 14.92 d. In independent traits, endometritis, enteritis and hoof disease had the greater impact on reproductive performance. The increased frequency of health events had a significant impact on the reproductive performance of cows. At the same level of health, reproductive performance of primiparous cows was better than that of multiparous cows. The sensitivity of ICF and DO to health events was higher in primiparous cows than in multiparous cows. Clinical mastitis, abortion, diarrhoea and displacement of abomasum significantly affected milk production traits in lactating cows, reducing 305-d milk yield (M305) by 1 225.99-2 416.48 kg, peak milk yield (PY) by 6.29-8.52 kg, protein yield (Pday) by 0.14-0.22 kg·d-1 and fat yield (Fday) by 0.16-0.22 kg·d-1. The increased frequency and class of health events had a significant impact on milk production performance of dairy cows. The M305, PY, Pday and Fday of multiparous cows were more sensitive to health events than that of primiparous cows. All types of health events significantly increased the culling risk of cows (1.45-17.81-fold), and cow with hoof sole cuticle splitting (HSCS) increased the culling risk a 17.81-fold. Based on large-scale herd health records, this study found that all types of health evens seriously affect the production performance of dairy cows, and the more frequency and type of events, the greater the impact. The sensitivity of primiparous and parturient cows to health events is different. The results of this study investigated the importance health events, clarified the specific degree of influence on important economic traits, provided theoretical references for farm management, and provided theoretical support for research and disease-resistant selection of dairy cow.

Key words: dairy cow, health events, reproductive performance, milk production, culling risk

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