Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows
<p>Abstract</p> <p>A study was carried out to investigate the effect of restricting silage feeding on time of calving and calving performance in Holstein-Friesian cows. In the treatment group (n = 1,248 cows, 12 herds) silage feeding commenced in the evening (17:00 to 20:00 h), aft...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2007-11-01
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| Series: | Irish Veterinary Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/60/11/667 |
| _version_ | 1819137086523965440 |
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| author | Gleeson David E O'Brien Bernadette Mee John F |
| author_facet | Gleeson David E O'Brien Bernadette Mee John F |
| author_sort | Gleeson David E |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>A study was carried out to investigate the effect of restricting silage feeding on time of calving and calving performance in Holstein-Friesian cows. In the treatment group (n = 1,248 cows, 12 herds) silage feeding commenced in the evening (17:00 to 20:00 h), after a period of restricted access (2 to 10 h) while in the control group <it>ad-libitum </it>access to silage was provided over the 24 h period (n = 1,193 cows, 12 herds). Daytime and nighttime calvings were defined as calvings occurring between the hours of 06:30 and 00:29 and between 00:30 and 06:29, respectively. Restricting access to silage resulted in less calvings at night compared to cows with <it>ad-libitum </it>access to silage (18 vs 22%, P < 0.05). Cows with restricted access to silage had a higher percentage of difficult calvings (11 vs 7%, P < 0.001) and stillbirths (7 vs 5%, P < 0.05) compared to cows in the control group. The percentage of calvings at night was lower (13%) when access to silage was restricted for 10 h compared to 2, 4 or 6 h (22, 18, 25%, respectively) (P < 0.001). Calf sire breed, calf gender or cow parity did not influence time of calving. In conclusion, offering silage to pregnant Holstein-Friesian cows in the evening, after a period of restricted access, reduced the incidence of nighttime calvings, but increased the incidence of dystocia and stillbirth.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:45:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9863cf10af894fa68471c40d50769404 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-0481 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:45:17Z |
| publishDate | 2007-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Irish Veterinary Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9863cf10af894fa68471c40d507694042022-12-21T18:28:57ZengBMCIrish Veterinary Journal2046-04812007-11-01601166767110.1186/2046-0481-60-11-667Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cowsGleeson David EO'Brien BernadetteMee John F<p>Abstract</p> <p>A study was carried out to investigate the effect of restricting silage feeding on time of calving and calving performance in Holstein-Friesian cows. In the treatment group (n = 1,248 cows, 12 herds) silage feeding commenced in the evening (17:00 to 20:00 h), after a period of restricted access (2 to 10 h) while in the control group <it>ad-libitum </it>access to silage was provided over the 24 h period (n = 1,193 cows, 12 herds). Daytime and nighttime calvings were defined as calvings occurring between the hours of 06:30 and 00:29 and between 00:30 and 06:29, respectively. Restricting access to silage resulted in less calvings at night compared to cows with <it>ad-libitum </it>access to silage (18 vs 22%, P < 0.05). Cows with restricted access to silage had a higher percentage of difficult calvings (11 vs 7%, P < 0.001) and stillbirths (7 vs 5%, P < 0.05) compared to cows in the control group. The percentage of calvings at night was lower (13%) when access to silage was restricted for 10 h compared to 2, 4 or 6 h (22, 18, 25%, respectively) (P < 0.001). Calf sire breed, calf gender or cow parity did not influence time of calving. In conclusion, offering silage to pregnant Holstein-Friesian cows in the evening, after a period of restricted access, reduced the incidence of nighttime calvings, but increased the incidence of dystocia and stillbirth.</p>http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/60/11/667dairy cowscalvingsilage feedingdystociastillbirth |
| spellingShingle | Gleeson David E O'Brien Bernadette Mee John F Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows Irish Veterinary Journal dairy cows calving silage feeding dystocia stillbirth |
| title | Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows |
| title_full | Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows |
| title_fullStr | Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows |
| title_short | Effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving, dystocia and stillbirth in Holstein-Friesian cows |
| title_sort | effect of restricting silage feeding prepartum on time of calving dystocia and stillbirth in holstein friesian cows |
| topic | dairy cows calving silage feeding dystocia stillbirth |
| url | http://www.irishvetjournal.org/content/60/11/667 |
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