Abstract
The length of time dairy heifers survive in a herd and longevity of dairy cattle, was found to decrease significantly between 1981 and 1992, with the average herd life of a dairy cow in the 1990's declined to 33 (± 0.38) months or 2.75 years (Durr, Monardes, Cue and Philpot, 1997). In the UK, 21 % of dairy heifers are culled during the first lactation (MDC, 1998) while in the EU 33.4 % of heifers complete only one lactation (Durr et al., 1997). In the UK dairy herd 48 % of heifers complete three lactations (MDC, 2000), while in the EU as a whole only 17 % of heifers remain in the herd for their third lactation (Durr et al., 1997).
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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