Description

• Title:
  SELECTED REPRODUCTION RATES OF COWS IN RELATION TO INTENSITY OF VETERINARY CARE – A SURVEY STUDY
• Creator:
  Sobolewski, Jarosław;
  Jaskowski, jędrzej M;
  Lech, Marianna;
  Śliwecki, Miłosz
• Description:
  Recently, a process of concentration of dairy cow husbandry has been observed in Poland.The number of farms producing milk is decreasing, while the number of cows in herds isincreasing. There is also a dynamic increase in milk yield. In the 1970s, the cattle populationin Poland reached 13 million heads, of which approximately 6 million were cows. After thechanges in the political system, the national cattle herd was constantly reduced, to 5.2million head in 2004. After Poland’s accession to the European Union, a process ofmodernization of production facilities took place, with a simultaneous concentration ofproduction. This led to a reduction in the number of dairy cattle herds in Poland. In December2020, the total number of cows in Poland amounted to 2.4 million heads and was 14% lowerthan in 2004. Milk production is concentrated in central and eastern Poland, i.e. on theterritory of the following provinces: Mazowieckie (23% of the total number of dairy cows),Podlaskie (20%), Wielkopolskie (13%), as well as Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Łódzkie (8%share of the national herd each), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (6%) and Lubelskie (5%). Theseregions account for approximately 83% of the national dairy cow population and 86% of milkdeliveries. According to data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), in Poland in 2020, anaverage of over 6 000 kg of milk was obtained from one head, compared to over 3 000 kg inthe early 1990s. In 2020, domestic cow’s milk production reached 14.8 million tonnescompared to 11.8 million tonnes in 2004 (an increase of 25%).The apparent greater concentration and intensification of production can lead to an increasein the incidence of cattle diseases, as well as disorders in their reproduction, which affectsthe lifetime of the animals. These problems were the basis for a survey on dairy cow farms.The aim of the research was to answer whether planned veterinary care affects selectedreproductive indices.The surveys on which the results are presented in this paper were carried out between June2018 and October 2021. Nine hundred and thirty-six questionnaires were used for theanalysis, and responses regarding herd metrics (25 questions) veterinary care (13 questions)and reproduction (23 questions) were included in the study. In our study, for logisticalreasons, we mainly included farms from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, whichaccounted for 27.5% of the respondents, the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship 13.73%, theWielkopolskie Voivodeship 13.42%, the Podlaskie Voivodeship 6.33%, and the PomorskieVoivodeship 5.13%. The analysis paid particular attention to the impact of the intensity ofveterinary care on basic indicators such as the inter-calving period, postpartum downtime,percentage of cows and heifers in calf after first insemination, age at first calving andpercentage of failure.The herds surveyed were divided into two groups, A (372 herds representing 39.74%), whereveterinary care was scheduled and check-ups were carried out once or twice a month, andgroup B (564 herds representing 60.26%), which included herds handled as and whenrequired. The average size of Group A herds was 125.55 dairy cattle and 43.94 heifers. GroupB herds averaged 42.79 heads of cattle and 12.83 heifers. The average inter-calving periodwas respectively in group A – 406.8 in B – 397 days, post-partum downtime: A – 61.3 days; B– 57.8, percentage of calving cows after first insemination: A – 56.8%, B – 43.8%, percentageof in-calf heifers after first insemination A – 81.3%; B – 61%. Age at first calving was similar inboth groups (A – 24.7 months, B – 25.3 months). As for the percentage of failures, it was8.6% in group A and 11.6% in group B.The results do not provide a clear answer to the question posed. They do, however, give abetter idea of the management strategies used in dairy cattle herds and indicate thatplanned management of veterinary care can improve selected reproductive indices.
• Object availability:
  free access
• Rights:
  Prawa autorskie (c) 2023 Jarosław Sobolewski, jędrzej M Jaskowski, Lech M, Śliwecki M;
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0
• Date:
  2023.07.09
• Type:
  info:eu-repo/semantics/article;
  info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
• Language:
  English
• Source:
  Translational Research in Veterinary Science; Vol. 6 No. 1 (2023); 17-18;
  Translational Research In Veterinary Science; Tom 6 Nr 1 (2023); 17-18;
  2657-4489
• Format:
  application/pdf
• Publisher:
  Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
• Relation: https://apcz.umk.pl/TRVS/article/view/63753/43285
• Subject:
  dairy cows;
  survey;
  questionnaires
• Identifier: https://apcz.umk.pl/TRVS/article/view/63753
• Data provider:
  Akademicka Platforma Czasopism
• Can I use it?:
  seek permission
• Type:
  text