Milk Production and Feed Intake of Holstein Cows Given Short (30-d) or Normal (60-d) Dry Periods
- 1 June 2003
- journal article
- Published by American Dairy Science Association in Journal of Dairy Science
- Vol. 86 (6), 2030-2038
- https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(03)73792-8
Abstract
Eighty-four Holstein cows were utilized to evaluate effects of dry period (60 d vs. 30 d), with or without estradiol cypionate (ECP) injections to accelerate mammary involution, on prepartum and postpartum dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), and subsequent milk yield (MY). Treatments were arranged in a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design that included dry period (30 d dry, 30 d dry + ECP, and 60 d dry), prepartum and postpartum bovine somatotropin (bST; 10.2 mg/d), and prepartum anionic or cationic diets. To accelerate mammary involution, ECP (15 mg) was injected intramuscularly at dry-off. No interaction of bST or prepartum diet with dry period length was detected on BW, BCS, or MY. No significant effects of dry period length on prepartum DMI, BW, or BCS were detected. Cows with shorter dry periods maintained postpartum BCS better and tended to have greater DMI immediately postpartum. Mean daily yields of milk for dry period groups did not differ during overall lactation period (1 to 21 wk). Injection of ECP at the onset of the 30-d dry period did not affect MY. No significant differences due to dry period length were detected for milk, 3.5% FCM, or SCM yields during first 10 wk of lactation. Data indicated that a short dry period protocol can be used as a management tool with no loss in the subsequent milk production of dairy cows.Keywords
Funding Information
- Florida Dairy Farmers Checkoff Project
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Milk Production of Dairy Cows Treated With Estrogen at the Onset of a Short Dry PeriodJournal of Dairy Science, 2002
- An attempt to omit the dry period over three consecutive lactations in dairy cowsAnimal Research, 1997
- Effects of different dry period lengths on production and economy in the dairy herd estimated by stochastic simulationLivestock Production Science, 1993
- Effect of prepartum blockade of microtubule formation on milk production and biochemical differentiation of the mammary epithelium in holstein heifersInternational Journal of Biochemistry, 1983
- Involution of the Mammary GlandPublished by Elsevier BV ,1978
- Effect of Dry Period Length on Holstein Milk Production and Selected Disorders at ParturitionJournal of Dairy Science, 1974
- Effects of Days Dry and Days Open on Holstein Milk ProductionJournal of Dairy Science, 1972
- Effect of Milking Throughout Pregnancy on Milk Yield in the Succeeding LactationJournal of Dairy Science, 1966
- Comparing Continuous Milking with Sixty-Day Dry Periods in Successive LactationsJournal of Dairy Science, 1965
- Influence of Length of Dry Period upon the Quantity of Milk Produced in the Subsequent LactationJournal of Dairy Science, 1943