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The average culling rate of Dutch dairy herds over the years 2007 to 2010 and its association with herd reproduction, performance and health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2013

Norhariani Mohd Nor ,
Wilma Steeneveld  and
Henk Hogeveen
Norhariani Mohd Nor*
Affiliation:
Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, PO Box 80151, 3508 TD, The Netherlands Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Wilma Steeneveld
Affiliation:
Business Economics Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 8130, 6706 KN, Wageningen, The Netherlands
Henk Hogeveen
Affiliation:
Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, PO Box 80151, 3508 TD, The Netherlands Business Economics Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 8130, 6706 KN, Wageningen, The Netherlands
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: N.B.MohdNor@uu.nl
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Abstract

Optimising the number of replacement heifers needed will have positive economic and environmental consequences on herds that rear their own young stock. The number of heifers needed to be kept is closely related with the number of culled dairy cows in the herd. This study therefore looked at the variation that exists in culling rate and herd level factors associated with it. A dataset from 1903 dairy herds available included information at animal level (dates of culling, slaughter/death) and herd level (characteristics of reproduction, performance, health) over the years 2007 to 2010. The average culling rate for slaughter/death was used and was defined for each year as percentage of the herd size that died within 30 d after they were culled. The analysis of the association between average culling rate for slaughter/death and the characteristics of the herd was performed using a mixed model. The results showed that the average culling rate for slaughter/death was 25·4% and varied between 23% (2007) and 28% (2010). More than 70% of the herds have an average culling rate for slaughter/death of less than 30%, showing that there is room for lowering the average culling rate for slaughter/death. A higher average culling rate for slaughter/death is associated with a longer average calving interval, a higher average 305-d protein production, a higher average somatic cell count (SCC), a higher percentage of new high SCC, a more than 5% decrease in herd size, and herds that bought more than 1% of animals per year. A lower average culling rate for slaughter/death is associated with a longer average age, herds that bought less than 1% of animals per year and a more than 5% increase in herd size. In conclusion, the average culling rate for slaughter/death is associated with fertility, udder health and openness of the herd.

Keywords

Average culling ratedairy herdreplacement heiferherd characteristic
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2013 

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