Bazeley Katrine J, Barrett David C, Williams Paul D, Reyher Kristen K
Synergy Farm Health, West Hill Barns, Evershot, Dorset DT2 0LD, UK.
School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK.
Vet J. 2016 Jun;212:9-14. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.10.043. Epub 2015 Oct 27.
Sub-optimal heifer growth is associated with higher disease rates and reduced future performance and longevity in the dairy herd. This report describes a system for measuring heifer growth from birth to first calving that was used on commercial dairy farms in South West England, in order to gather benchmarking data to feed back to farmers. Weights (n = 8443) were collected from 20 farms. There was a marked variation in individual and herd mean growth rates. Overall, calves gained no weight in the first 8 days after birth and had a very low growth rate (median 0.12 kg/day) up to 30 days, a period when feed conversion efficiency is high and calves are vulnerable to disease. Heifers whose growth rate up to 180 days was low were significantly less likely to achieve target service weight (374 kg) by 420 days. Monitoring heifer growth during the rearing period enables farmers to improve heifer growth rates and so impact both the efficiency of heifer rearing and, potentially, the productivity and performance of the adult herd.
后备小母牛生长发育欠佳与较高的发病率相关，且会降低奶牛群未来的生产性能和寿命。本报告介绍了一种用于测量后备小母牛从出生到首次产犊期间生长情况的系统，该系统在英格兰西南部的商业奶牛场中使用，目的是收集基准数据反馈给养殖户。从20个农场收集了体重数据（n = 8443）。个体和牛群的平均生长速度存在显著差异。总体而言，犊牛在出生后的前8天体重没有增加，在30天前生长速度非常低（中位数为0.12千克/天），这一时期饲料转化效率高，但犊牛易患疾病。180天前生长速度低的后备小母牛在420天达到目标配种体重（374千克）的可能性显著降低。在育成期监测后备小母牛的生长情况，能使养殖户提高后备小母牛的生长速度，从而影响后备小母牛的饲养效率，并可能影响成年奶牛群的生产力和生产性能。
