Development of a multivariable reproductive index to assess fertility of dairy cows

摘要

Fertility is a critical component of dairy production and failures to attain and maintain pregnancy are major reasons for production losses in dairy herds. Reproductive efficiency is determined by a number of complex cow and environmental factors. Methodologies refining the identification of cows with low and high fertility would be a valuable tool for research in multiple areas, including genetic selection. Therefore, our objective was to develop a Reproductive Index (RI) to predict the probabilityof a timely pregnancy in a large population of dairy cows.