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Reproductive status of cows in Dairy Herd Improvement programs and bred using artificial insemination (2011)


TABLE 1. 2011 REPRODUCTIVE TRAIT AVERAGES and standard errors.
 
TABLE 2. Average numbers of BREEDINGS PER CONCEPTION (2003–11).
 
TABLE 3. Average DAYS FROM CALVING TO FIRST BREEDING (2003–11).
 
TABLE 4. Average DAYS FROM CALVING TO LAST BREEDING (2003–11).
 
TABLE 5. Average DAYS FROM FIRST TO LAST BREEDING (2003–11).
 
TABLE 6. Average CONCEPTION RATES FOR FIRST BREEDINGS (2003–11).
 
TABLE 7. Average CONCEPTION RATES FOR ALL BREEDINGS (2003–11).
 
TABLE 8. Average CALVING INTERVALS (2003–10).
 
TABLE 9. Numbers of RECORDS (2003–10): A) AYRSHIRE, B) BROWN SWISS, C) GUERNSEY, D) HOLSTEIN, E) JERSEY), F) MILKING SHORTHORN, and G) RED & WHITE.
 
BACKGROUND
 


TABLE 1. 20111 REPRODUCTIVE TRAIT AVERAGES and standard errors by breed.
 
Trait Ayrshire Brown Swiss Guernsey Holstein Jersey Milking Shorthorn Red & White
Breedings per conception 2.0 ± 0.02 2.4 ± 0.02 2.4 ± 0.03 2.5 ± 0.00 2.2 ± 0.00 1.9 ± 0.04 2.1± 0.03
Days from calving to first breeding 95 ± 0.8 89 ± 0.4 92 ± 0.8 80 ± 0.0 77 ± 0.1 99 ± 1.6 85 ± 0.8
Days from calving to last breeding 134 ± 1.4 142 ± 1.1 141 ± 1.8 129 ± 0.1 113 ± 0.2 131 ± 2.5 125 ± 1.9
Days from first to last breeding 47 ± 1.1 66 ± 0.9 61 ± 1.4 60 ± 0.1 45 ± 0.2 37 ± 1.8 47 ± 1.5
Conception rate for first breedings 0.37 ± 0.008 0.29 ± 0.005 0.28 ± 0.008 0.32 ± 0.000 0.41 ± 0.001 0.38 ± 0.016 0.34 ± 0.012
Conception rate for all breedings 0.36 ± 0.006 0.27 ± 0.003 0.26 ± 0.005 0.30 ± 0.000 0.37 ± 0.001 0.39 ± 0.011 0.32 ± 0.008
Calving interval 416 ± 1.9 433 ± 1.3 431 ± 2.2 409 ± 0.1 394 ± 0.3 398 ± 3.2 413 ± 2.5
1Cows first bred in 2011 for all traits except calving interval; for calving interval, cows with first calving for the interval in 2009.



TABLE 2. Average numbers of BREEDINGS PER CONCEPTION by breed and year of first breeding.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.0
Brown Swiss 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.4
Guernsey 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.4
Holstein 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Jersey 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.2
Milking Shorthorn 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.9
Red & White 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1




TABLE 3. Average DAYS FROM CALVING TO FIRST BREEDING by breed and breeding year.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 99 97 94 93 94 94 92 93 95
Brown Swiss 98 94 93 92 93 92 90 90 89
Guernsey 99 94 91 89 93 95 89 90 92
Holstein 91 88 87 86 86 83 81 81 80
Jersey 87 86 86 85 83 78 77 77 77
Milking Shorthorn 94 91 96 95 78 83 88 93 99
Red & White 96 97 96 92 86 86 85 84 85




TABLE 4. Average DAYS FROM CALVING TO LAST BREEDING by breed and year of first breeding.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 146 135 134 133 134 128 131 130 134
Brown Swiss 163 150 157 161 155 152 147 149 142
Guernsey 157 148 153 150 151 149 148 144 141
Holstein 147 143 146 145 141 136 133 133 129
Jersey 130 129 131 130 125 121 117 116 113
Milking Shorthorn 134 121 119 120 100 105 121 122 131
Red & White 156 142 146 143 140 131 132 130 125




TABLE 5. Average DAYS FROM FIRST TO LAST BREEDING by breed and year of first breeding.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 56 47 50 50 48 40 47 49 47
Brown Swiss 81 72 79 82 79 73 70 73 66
Guernsey 77 72 76 76 76 71 72 72 61
Holstein 67 67 71 71 67 63 62 62 60
Jersey 53 53 57 56 54 52 49 47 45
Milking Shorthorn 33 33 29 34 31 28 42 35 37
Red & White 71 57 61 62 62 56 53 54 47




TABLE 6. Average CONCEPTION RATES FOR FIRST BREEDINGS by breed and breeding year.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 0.34 0.38 0.38 0.36 0.37 0.39 0.38 0.37 0.37
Brown Swiss 0.28 0.29 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.27 0.29 0.29 0.29
Guernsey 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.27 0.26 0.25 0.27 0.28
Holstein 0.32 0.33 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32
Jersey 0.40 0.41 0.40 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.40 0.41 0.41
Milking Shorthorn 0.32 0.41 0.44 0.41 0.35 0.40 0.38 0.43 0.38
Red & White 0.30 0.34 0.33 0.31 0.27 0.31 0.33 0.33 0.34




TABLE 7. Average CONCEPTION RATES FOR ALL BREEDINGS by breed and year of first breeding.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Ayrshire 0.34 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.36 0.39 0.37 0.36 0.36
Brown Swiss 0.26 0.27 0.25 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27
Guernsey 0.26 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.24 0.24 0.25 0.26
Holstein 0.31 0.31 0.29 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.30 0.30
Jersey 0.37 0.37 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.37 0.37
Milking Shorthorn 0.36 0.39 0.43 0.38 0.34 0.39 0.36 0.40 0.39
Red & White 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.33 0.32




TABLE 8. Average CALVING INTERVALS (days) by breed and year of first calving for the interval.
 
Breed 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Ayrshire 422 422 419 422 416 418 413 416
Brown Swiss 437 444 444 452 449 448 441 433
Guernsey 434 437 440 438 440 441 436 431
Holstein 426 422 424 424 418 417 412 409
Jersey 411 412 411 412 402 401 397 394
Milking Shorthorn 409 411 407 409 394 410 405 398
Red & White 425 429 432 431 424 423 416 413




TABLE 9. Numbers of RECORDS used to calculate reproductive statistics by breed, trait, and year.



A) AYRSHIRE
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 2,904 3,603 3,632 3,736 3,638 3,560 3,201 3,727 3,741
Days from calving to first breeding 2,999 3,742 3,750 3,858 3,751 3,720 3,315 3,873 3,906
Days from calving to last breeding 2,121 2,601 2,646 2,655 2,700 2,614 2,366 2,674 2,740
Days from first to last breeding 2,904 3,603 3,632 3,736 3,638 3,560 3,201 3,727 3,741
Conception rate for first breedings 2,561 3,340 3,358 3,462 3,358 3,204 2,922 3,395 3,461
Conception rate for all breedings 5,265 7,241 7,557 7,850 7,293 7,026 6,120 7,619 7,616
Calving interval 1,343 1,906 1,914 1,908 1,751 1,689 1,559 1,903




B) BROWN SWISS
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 7,751 8,859 9,599 9,372 9,746 9,965 9,619 10,273 10,470
Days from calving to first breeding 7,979 9,272 9,964 9,716 10,112 10,340 10,019 10,626 10,875
Days from calving to last breeding 5,045 5,587 5,955 5,875 6,271 6,384 6,272 6,835 6,816
Days from first to last breeding 7,751 8,859 9,599 9,372 9,746 9,965 9,619 10,273 10,470
Conception rate for first breedings 6,915 8,300 8,944 8,799 9,189 9,157 8,970 9,576 9,820
Conception rate for all breedings 16,556 21,119 23,494 24,014 25,305 25,275 23,908 24,942 25,626
Calving interval 3,533 4,705 4,726 4,689 5,052 4,887 5,073 5,378




C) GUERNSEY
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 3,878 4,051 3,881 3,538 3,493 3,505 3,264 3,647 3,457
Days from calving to first breeding 3,994 4,242 4,064 3,675 3,643 3,647 3,394 3,804 3,603
Days from calving to last breeding 2,576 2,736 2,565 2,337 2,332 2,222 2,097 2,394 2,178
Days from first to last breeding 3,878 4,051 3,881 3,538 3,493 3,505 3,264 3,647 3,457
Conception rate for first breedings 3,451 3,819 3,653 3,333 3,173 3,086 2,998 3,311 3,122
Conception rate for all breedings 8,810 10,461 10,165 9,552 9,333 9,144 8,958 9,311 8,710
Calving interval 1,629 2,059 1,908 1,707 1,674 1,543 1,645 1,609




D) HOLSTEIN
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 907,826 984,928 1,031,226 1,085,695 1,359,969 1,405,709 1,442,362 1,677,752 1,741,262
Days from calving to first breeding 945,613 1,019,883 1,066,464 1,121,054 1,401,197 1,450,389 1,486,980 1,728,348 1,792,810
Days from calving to last breeding 670,915 747,815 767,615 808,942 1,028,420 1,068,376 1,100,174 1,282,372 1,325,457
Days from first to last breeding 907,826 984,928 1,031,226 1,085,695 1,359,969 1,405,709 1,442,362 1,677,752 1,741,262
Conception rate for first breedings 867,717 957,220 1,005,680 1,039,224 1,276,127 1,342,147 1,391,804 1,619,303 1,694,420
Conception rate for all breedings 2,136,300 2,391,206 2,602,563 2,751,133 3,368,367 3,559,170 3,576,053 4,162,124 4,376,492
Calving interval 478,645 534,181 537,498 590,589 729,306 747,841 794,627 893,269




E) JERSEY
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 47,960 48,462 51,404 53,791 88,810 95,143 104,251 128,351 147,077
Days from calving to first breeding 50,250 50,570 53,471 55,816 91,989 98,407 107,306 132,340 151,792
Days from calving to last breeding 37,829 38,821 41,374 42,402 70,694 76,600 85,590 106,860 121,408
Days from first to last breeding 47,960 48,462 51,404 53,791 88,810 95,143 104,251 128,351 147,077
Conception rate for first breedings 45,069 46,832 49,679 51,752 80,994 89,864 98,924 120,028 137,562
Conception rate for all breedings 100,580 105,318 114,723 122,128 194,929 221,572 235,297 282,208 323,021
Calving interval 26,680 28,323 29,251 30,844 49,340 53,371 58,313 75,664




F) MILKING SHORTHORN
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 307 373 616 501 2,956 1,669 805 1,075 1,092
Days from calving to first breeding 322 406 662 533 3,016 1,767 834 1,106 1,147
Days from calving to last breeding 173 245 403 331 1,843 1,150 556 750 782
Days from first to last breeding 307 373 616 501 2,956 1,669 805 1,075 1,092
Conception rate for first breedings 260 321 519 423 2,615 1,555 717 940 940
Conception rate for all breedings 449 612 950 844 5,432 3,202 1,532 1,942 2,007
Calving interval 84 165 180 228 685 361 359 407




G) RED & WHITE
 
Trait 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Breedings per conception 1,164 1,441 1,520 1,493 1,974 1,827 1,830 1,604 1,725
Days from calving to first breeding 1,181 1,512 1,579 1,541 2,019 1,888 1,899 1,672 1,792
Days from calving to last breeding 799 977 1,048 1,027 1,332 1,195 1,249 1,191 1,151
Days from first to last breeding 1,164 1,441 1,520 1,493 1,974 1,827 1,830 1,604 1,725
Conception rate for first breedings 1,010 1,312 1,380 1,345 1,802 1,697 1,706 1,509 1,609
Conception rate for all breedings 2,358 3,288 3,265 3,335 4,723 4,253 4,027 3,622 3,739
Calving interval 543 690 657 715 993 902 807 777



Background

Measures of reproductive performance are now available from most Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) herds. Before 2003, comprehensive documentation of reproductive performance was available from only a limited number of U.S. research herds used for testing of experimental technology (for example, facilitation of heat detection, synchronization, timed artificial insemination (AI), and sexed semen). Nieuwhof et al. (1989, Journal of Dairy Science 72:685–692) and Hare et al. (2006, Journal of Dairy Science 89:365–370) reported averages for age at first calving and calving interval for U.S. DHI herds. Norman et al. (2009, Journal of Dairy Science 92:3517–3528) provided a comprehensive summary from 1996 through 2007 of 9 reproductive traits for U.S. Holsteins and Jerseys in DHI herds.

More selection emphasis has been placed on fertility in recent years (Cole et al., 2009, AIPL Research Report NM$4) following a steady decline in a few of the important reproductive traits. For example, days open, which is used to calculate pregnancy rate for genetic evaluations [pregnancy rate = 0.25 (233 − days open)] increased by 39 days for Holsteins from 1960 through 2000; around 75% of that increase in days open can be attributed to genetics (Trend in daughter pregnancy rate for Holsteins or Red & Whites, December 2012).

This report is the 2011 update for the more important reproductive traits. The phenotypic averages provided include both genetic and environmental differences. A few traits have shown improvement since 2003; others deteriorated for a time, but most now show some improvement. The trends for Holsteins reflect the entire U.S. dairy industry well, because they account for most of the cows. Considerable fluctuation over time is evident for many of the other breeds, likely because of their limited numbers.


Contact: Jan Wright, 301-504-8669, jan.wright@ars.usda.gov Last Modified: 05/22/2013