Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry 2020 Volume 36, Issue 1, Pages: 27-35
https://doi.org/10.2298/BAH2001027K
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Association between age at first calving and milk production in first lactation on longevity traits in Holstein cows
Kučević Denis (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia)
Trivunović Snežana (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia)
Šoronja Žika (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia)
Janković Dobrila 
(University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia)
Stanojević Dragan (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia)
Đedović Radica (University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia)
Papović Tamara (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Serbia)
The objective of this research was to determine the association between age
at first calving (AFC) and milk production in the first lactation of
longevity traits for Holstein cows. The research was conducted on 2307 cows
raised on 4 farms in AP Vojvodina. The cows were culled in the period from
2017 to 2018. The cows belonged to the group of Holstein Friesian breed of
cattle. Cow longevity was observed using three parameters: number of
lactations (NL), lifetime milk yield (LMY) and length of productive life
(LPL). The research involved the influence of the farm on which the animals
realized their production, the season of first calving. A mean value
obtained for the length of productive life in the analysed population was
1207 days (3.30 years on average). During this period the animals on average
realized 2.45 lactations and produced on average 18798 kg milk. All studied
traits showed a high level of variability. From these data, the study sought
to determine the influence of factors on the traits of longevity, our
research present that studied factors showed high statistical significance
on these traits except in the case of the season of first calving where a
statistical significance effect wasn’t observed. The season of first calving
did not affect the animal traits for longevity and, generally, didn’t affect
the calving interval. Regarding the obtained correlation data between age at
first calving and length of productive life, it can be concluded that
belated AFC leads to reduced reproductive performance.
Keywords: Age at first calving, longevity, Holstein, milk yield in first lactation
Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. TR 31086