Importance of Body Condition Scoring in Dairy Cattle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro19867586Keywords:
reproductive problems, nutrition, reproductive tract, environment, stress, missed heats, body condition scoringAbstract
It is doubtful that many of today's dairy herds, fed rations balanced to NRC standards, experience reproductive problems solely because of nutrition. Nutrients and how their deficiencies and excesses affect reproduction have been reviewed.1,6 Further research is needed to investigate combinations of nutrients and the subsequent effect on reproduction.
Some veterinary practitioners are convinced that there are profound interrelationships between the nutritional status of dairy cattle and their reproductive performance. This clinical impression was fostered because in many cases regular reproductive tract examinations alone were not adequate to ensure good herd reproductive health and reproductive efficiency. In some cases this impression is justified, but in many cases nutrition is the scapegoat for environment, stress, disease and the main problem of missed heats and other poor reproductive management practices.
This paper will discuss body condition scoring cows on a large dairy farm in north Florida, and its effect upon reproductive performance and 305-day mature equivalent four percent fat-corrected milk (ME 305).
