The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of body condition score (BCS) and daily milk yield (DMY) on reproductive characteristics of dairy cows. A total of 1249 records of Czech Fleckvieh cows raised at a private farm in Prague were enrolled. Dairy cows were grouped according to BCS (1 = ≤3.75, 2 = 4-4.25 and 3 = ≥ 4.50) and DMY groups (<20kg, 20-30 kg and >30kg). Number of inseminations per pregnancy (NI), days open (DO), service period (SP) and ovarian cyst (OC) cases were evaluated as reproduction characteristics. While the group with BCS ≥4.50 presented higher DO, the group with BCS ≤ 3.75 had lower OC cases when compared with other BCS groups. The group with DMY ˂20 kg had higher DO but lower OC cases than other DMY groups. Significant correlations were estimated between SP and NI (r = 0.843) or DO (r = 0.256), and between OC and DO (r = 0.546). The results revealed the effects of BCS and DMY on DO and OC and associations of reproduction traits each other. Therefore, close tracking production and reproduction data is suggested as a major process to prevent fertility problems and to obtain high productivity in dairy cows.

________________________________________________________________________________________ KUl, E., A. ŞAHİn, S. ATASEvEr, E. UğUrlUTEpE, M. SoydAnEr: The effects of somatic cell count on milk yield and milk composition in Holstein cows. vet. arhiv 89, 143-154, 2019. ABSTrACTThis study was conducted to assess the impact of somatic cell count (SCC) on the test day milk yield (TDMY) and milk composition parameters (fat, solids-not-fat, protein and lactose) of Holstein cows raised in the Kırşehir province of Turkey. A total of 1194 raw milk samples were collected from 195 Holstein cows at different stages of lactation (from 1 to 7), parities (from 1 to 3) and calving seasons (autumn, winter, spring and summer). Also, TDMY and milk composition traits were tested by SCC in four groups (<100×10 3 , 100-200×10 3 , 201-500×10 3 and >500×10 3 cells/mL). For statistical evaluation, SCC data were converted to log 10 base. The overall means of log 10 SCC, TDMY, fat, solids-not-fat (SNF), protein and lactose were determined as 4.95 ± 0.016, 33.36 ± 0.232 kg/day, 3.39 ± 0.021%, 9.04 ± 0.013%, 3.32 ± 0.005% and 4.92 ± 0.007%, respectively. Log 10 SCC, TDMY, fat, SNF, protein and lactose were significantly affected by the stage of lactation, parity and calving seasons (P<0.05). An increase in the SCC was accompanied by a decrease in the milk yield as well as its content (P<0.05). Cows' milk with high SCC (>201×10 3 cells/mL) had a lower TDMY than milk with lower SCC (<100×10 3 and 100-200 cells/mL). However, the lowest fat, SNF, protein and lactose were determined in milk with SCC >500×10 3 cells/mL. It was concluded that SCC in milk should not exceed 500×10 3 cells/mL for Holstein cows, suggesting that monthly control of SCC may be effective for improving milk production and milk quality in Holstein cows.

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The aim of the study was to evaluate body condition score (BCS) and somatic cell count (SCC) of milk in Turkish Saanen goats. Data were obtained from 95 goats during the morning milking. While a 1-5 scale was used to assess BCS, direct microscopy was performed to analyse SCC. Effect of stage of lactation (SL) and number of kids at birth (NK) were evaluated in three subgroups. While SL has not affected the parameters, goats with a single kid had significantly higher BCS (P < 0.05) than goats with twins. Correlation coefficient between evaluated parameters was estimated as weak (r = 0.08). In conclusion, milk SCC and BCS levels of Turkish Saanen goats were assumed to be in acceptable thresholds.

Erdem, H., Atasever, S. and Kul, E. 2007

The objective of this study was to determine the relationships between animal welfare scores (AWS) and milk production in dairy cattle. AWS traits on locomotion ability (LA), social interaction (SI), flooring (F), indoor conditions (IC) and stockmanship effect (SE) were scored by a 100 points scale in a total of 51 farms in Samsun region of Turkey. First lactation milk yield (FLMY) records of Brown Swiss and Simmental cows were used as milk production trait. All components were assessed by t-test to determine the effects of the welfare traits on FLMY. The overall mean of AWS was calculated to be 74.05±1.69, and therefore the farms were founded within a “suitable” class. It was estimated moderate correlations among the parameters except for AWS and SI, however, no statistically significant difference was estimated between AWS and FLMY of the cows. SE was revealed the most important factor on AWS of the farms. Finally, routine scoring cattle farms to decide their suitability for animal needs is advised to herd owners for managing rentable populations in the farms.