Making a breeding more profitable by working on the morphology of heifers
There are three main ways of improving production per day in cows:
Reducing unproductive lifespan – and therefore lower the age at first calving.
Why?
Reducing the cull rate by 5% saves €3.2 / 1,000 l (Cogédis).
How?
40% of heifers weighing more than 200 kg at 6 months reach their third lactation, compared with 27% of heifers weighing less than 165 kg (Bovins Croissance 53).
Increasing milk production over an animal’s career
Why?
Reducing the cull rate by 5% saves €3.2 / 1,000 l (Cogédis).
How?
Increasing milk production from 18,000 to 25,000 litres/daity cow results in a €165 margin gain per cow (Cogédis).
Increasing milk production over an animal’s career
Why?
Increasing milk production from 18,000 to 25,000 litres/daity cow results in a €165 margin gain per cow (Cogédis).
How?
Increasing the average daily gain by 200g before weaning can boost milk production by 500kg/dairy cow over the first 3 lactations (Soberon et al., 2012), and increasing height at withers by 10cm at first calving can boost production by 560kg/dairy cow over the first lactation (Markusfeld et al, JDS, 1993).
However, after 6 months, growth must be slowed down to optimise milk production (see graph 1). In fact, too little growth will damage the udder’s secretory tissue, while too much growth, combined with a very energy-rich diet, will make the udder greasy and impair future lactations.
Increasing of 2 to 4 kg of milk
The Galascorus software, developed by CCPA, can be used to audit the growth and morphology of heifers.
In terms of morphology, heifers are classified into 5 categories:
- OK: in line with weight and height targets
- Adipose: insufficient height for a correct weight or above targets
- Skeletal: underweight with height above targets
- Insufficient: weight and height below targets
>Target: weight and height above targets.
In 2012, CCPA carried out a survey on 125 heifers (see graph 2) by scoring their morphology with Galascorus and monitoring their production in first lactation. his survey showed that heifers with a morphology that met or exceeded targets (30.1 kg/d) had better milk production than heifers with an adipose morphology (28.3 kg/d, i.e. +2 kg/d) or insufficient morphology (26.1 kg/d, i.e. +4 kg/d).