Economic Losses Resulted from Fertility Problems in Holstein Crossbreed Dairy Cows in a Commercial Dairy Farm

Abstract

The aims of this study were to evaluate the economic losses caused by infertility in Holstein crossbreed dairy cows raised in a cattle farm in Kırşehir province. Data recorded from 294 Holstein crossbreed dairy cows between 2009-2017 were used in this study. A total of 1077 lactation records from these cows were used as study material. Age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI) and number of inseminations per pregnancy (PI) parameters were evaluated. The values of AFS, AFC, CI, and PI were 491.83 days, 766.86 days, 432 days and 2.64, respectively. There were 41.83 days, 36.86 days, 67 days and 0.99 of difference from ideal reproduction values. When calculating economic losses, all detail was provided from farm zootechnician and veterinarian. The difference between the AFS and AFC (4.97 days) caused 16.189.9 TL economic cost. Economic costs of the AFC, CI, andPI were 450 162.3 TL, 1 307 852.7 TL, and 135 729 TL, respectively. As a result, it was understood that this farm had significant deviations from ideal values for fertility traits between 2009-2017 and these deviations caused 581.41 TL daily, and 1 909 933.9 TL total cost.