Analysis of lactating cows in commercial Austrian dairy farms: interrelationships between different efficiency and production traits, body condition score and energy balance

Figures & data

Table 1. Effect of genotype and parity on body weight, body condition score, milk production data, predicted dry matter intake, energy balance and efficiency parameters (least squares means).

	Genotype (G)							Parity (P)				RMSE^f	p-value
Trait	FV	FV × RH6.25	FV × RH12.5	FV × RH25	FV × RH5075	HF	BS	1	2	3 + 4	≥5	G	P
Data set, N = 38,070.00	9942	5969	2156	2365	2180	6172	9286	10,856	8385	10,865	7964
Body weight (BW) and body condition (BCS)
BW, kg	722^b	729^a	728^a,b	725^a,b	706^c	662^d	649^e	644^d	698^c	727^b	744^a	57.00	<.001	<.001
BCS, Points 1–5	3.42^a	3.39^a	3.38^a	3.24^b	3.04^c	2.61^e	2.88^d	3.16^a	3.14^b	3.13^b	3.12^b	0.46	<.001	<.001
Milk traits
Milk, kg/d	26.30^c	26.30^c	26.40^b,c	27.00^b	28.90^a	29.50^a	26.40^b,c	24.20^d	27.50^c	29.00^a	28.20^b	5.40	<.001	<.001
ECM^g, kg/d	26.70^c	27.00^c	26.90^c	27.70^b	29.30^a	29.20^a	26.50^c	24.50^d	28.00^c	29.30^a	28.60^b	5.50	<.001	<.001
Milk fat, %	4.21^b	4.28^a	4.22^a,b	4.28^a,b	4.22^a,b	4.09^d	4.13^c,d	4.18^b	4.22^a	4.20^a,b	4.22^a	0.66	<.001	<.001
Milk protein, %	3.53^b	3.56^a	3.55^a,b	3.55^a,b	3.47^c	3.35^d	3.49^b,c	3.46^d	3.55^a	3.50^b	3.48^c	0.28	<.001	<.001
Milk lactose, %	4.73^b,c	4.73^b,c	4.71^c	4.74^a,b	4.73^b,c	4.73^b,c	4.75^a	4.83^a	4.75^b	4.70^c	4.64^d	0.16	<.001	<.001
Feed intake and energy balance
DMI^h^i, kg DM/d	19.72^c	19.83^c	19.87^c	20.24^b	20.82^a	20.86^a	19.84^c	18.24^d	20.48^c	21.02^a	20.93^b	1.58	<.001	<.001
Energy intake^j^i, MJ NEL/d	129.10^c	129.70^c	130.00^c	132.60^b	136.70^a	137.40^a	130.30^b,c	119.40^d	134.20^c	138.10^a	137.40^b	12.70	<.001	<.001
Energy requirement^j, MJ NEL/d	130.40^b	131.40^b	131.20^b	133.80^a	138.10^a	135.50^a	126.30^c	119.60^d	133.40^c	139.10^a	137.40^b	18.20	<.001	<.001
Energy balance^j^i, MJ NEL/d	–1.22^c	–1.57^c	–1.39^c	–1.07^c	–1.12^c	1.59^b	3.78^a	–0.23^b	0.76^a	–1.06^c	–0.04^b	13.12	<.001	<.001
Efficiency parameters
Body weight eff., kg ECM/kg BW^0.75	0.192^d	0.193^d	0.193^d	0.199^c	0.215^b	0.225^a	0.207^b,c	0.193^d	0.208^b	0.211^a	0.202^c	0.041	<.001	<.001
Feed efficiency^i, kg ECM/kg DMI	1.333^b,c	1.337^b,c	1.326^b,c	1.349^b	1.381^a	1.381^a	1.319^c	1.333^c	1.347^b	1.369^a	1.338^b,c	0.205	<.001	<.001
Energy efficiency^k^i, MJ LE/MJ NEL	0.654^b,c	0.656^b,c	0.651^b,c	0.661^b	0.674^a	0.674^a	0.645^c	0.654^c	0.660^b	0.670^a	0.655^b,c	0.102	<.001	<.001

^a–eLeast squares means within a row and a fixed effect with different superscripts differ (p<.05); FV: Fleckvieh; RH: Red Holstein; 6.25–5075: average proportion of Red Holstein; FV × RH5075: Fleckvieh with an average proportion of 68% Red Holstein; HF: Holstein Friesian; BS: Brown Swiss.

^froot mean square error.

^gECM: energy corrected milk (GfE 2001).

^hDMI: dry matter intake; DM: dry matter.

ⁱfeed and energy intake are predicted.

^jNEL: net energy for lactation;

^kLE: energy in milk; BW, BCS, ECM, DMI and energy intake (Ledinek et al. 2018).

Figure 1. Effect of genotype on the efficiency parameters of Brown Swiss (BS), Fleckvieh (FV), the FV groups with increasing Red Holstein (RH) genes and Holstein Friesian (HF) as well as the interaction of selected genotypes and lactation stage for body weight, body condition score and energy balance (ECM: energy corrected milk; BW^0.75: metabolic body weight; DMI: predicted dry matter intake; LE: energy in milk; NEL: net energy for lactation; BCS: body condition score (Ledinek et al. 2018)). As DMI was estimated, energy intake, energy balance, feed and energy efficiency are partly based on predicted values.

Table 2. Effect of lactation stage on body weight, body condition score, milk production data, predicted dry matter intake, energy balance and efficiency parameters (least squares means).

	Stage of lactation (DIM^a)												p-value
Trait	1	2	3	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		DIM	G^b×DIM
DIM^a	17	43	71	99	127	155	183	211	239	266	294	321
Data set, N = 38,070	2970	3757	3663	3594	3570	3401	3460	3302	3274	3050	2479	1550
Body weight (BW) and body condition (BCS)
BW, kg	682	673	677	682	686	692	700	710	721	729	742	742		<.001	.001
BCS, Points 1–5	3.18	3.02	3.00	3.01	3.02	3.05	3.11	3.15	3.21	3.25	3.31	3.33		<.001	<.001
Milk traits
Milk, kg/d	32.40	34.80	33.70	31.80	29.90	28.50	26.90	25.20	23.40	21.40	19.80	19.00		<.001	<.001
ECM^c, kg/d	33.40	33.50	32.60	31.10	29.80	28.50	27.40	26.00	24.50	22.70	21.20	20.80		<.001	<.001
Milk fat, %	4.33	3.92	3.90	3.93	4.01	4.06	4.17	4.26	4.33	4.43	4.52	4.60		<.001	<.001
Milk protein, %	3.34	3.09	3.20	3.32	3.42	3.48	3.53	3.60	3.65	3.72	3.80	3.86		<.001	<.001
Milk lactose, %	4.77	4.83	4.82	4.79	4.77	4.74	4.71	4.70	4.68	4.67	4.64	4.64		<.001	<.001
Feed intake and energy balance
DMI^d^e, kg DM/d	19.90	21.19	21.49	21.29	20.93	20.59	20.24	19.88	19.56	19.13	18.94	18.86		<.001	<.001
Energy intake^f^e, MJ NEL/d	131.40	141.20	143.30	141.50	138.80	136.00	133.10	130.00	127.20	123.20	121.00	120.20		<.001	<.001
Energy requirement^f, MJ NEL/d	149.00	149.40	146.40	141.90	137.60	134.00	130.80	127.00	123.20	119.10	116.00	114.30		<.001	<.001
Energy balance^f^e, MJ NEL/d	–17.60	–8.14	–3.08	–0.39	1.18	1.99	2.32	3.02	3.97	4.12	5.01	5.90		<.001	<.001
Efficiency parameters
Body weight eff., kg ECM/kg BW^0.75	0.249	0.253	0.245	0.233	0.222	0.211	0.201	0.190	0.177	0.163	0.150	0.147		<.001	<.001
Feed efficiency^e, kg ECM/kg DMI	1.659	1.561	1.496	1.445	1.403	1.369	1.336	1.293	1.236	1.172	1.105	1.086		<.001	<.001
Energy efficiency^g^e, MJ LE/MJ NEL	0.808	0.753	0.721	0.699	0.680	0.666	0.653	0.635	0.611	0.585	0.557	0.548		<.001	<.001

^aLS-means of day in milk of 28-day classes 1–12.

^bgenotype.

^cECM: energy corrected milk (GfE 2001).

^dDMI: dry matter intake; DM: dry matter.

^efeed and energy intake are predicted.

^fNEL: net energy for lactation.

^gLE: energy in milk

BW, BCS, ECM, DMI and energy intake (Ledinek et al. 2018).

Ledinek M, Gruber L, Steininger F, Zottl K, Royer M, Krimberger K, Mayerhofer M, Egger-Danner C, Fuerst-Waltl B. 2018. Analysis of lactating cows in commercial Austrian dairy farms: Diet composition, and influence of genotype, parity and stage of lactation on nutrient intake, body weight and body condition score. Italian J Anim Sci. [accessed 2018 Nov 05]:[14 p.]. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2018.1504632.

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