Monitoring the nutritional and reproductive state of dairy cows through the presence of urea in milk

Abstract

The effects of farm, parity (PO) and month of parturition on milk production, percentage of fat and protein, somatic cell count (SCC), and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) concentration were assessed on four specialized dairy farms using 120 cows. Also, the effects of MUN on gestation rate (GR) and artificial insemination rate (AIR) in early lactation were studied. The parameters of production and milk quality were similar among farms and were not influenced by the month of parturition. Farm D presented the highest MUN concentration. Concentration of MUN, percentages of fat and protein and SCC were not influenced by PO. Cows with a value of MUN between 10.1 and 13.0 mg/dL had the highest AIR and GR between days 55 and 70 postpartum and after 70 days in milk. These data suggested that MUN concentration was a useful parameter to predict the nutritional and reproductive stages of dairy cows.