Dry Period in Cattle: I. Influence on Milk Yield and Reproductive Performance

Purpose of this study was to investigate the relations of dry periodlengths (DPL) with subsequent lactation (305-d) milk yield (MY)and reproductive performance of Holstein cattle. Data wereobtained from 800 Holstein cows raised in a private dairy operationand which were in different parity (2nd, 3rd and ≥4th). DPL wasclassified in 5 categories as; ≤40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70 and ≥71 days.The differences in lactation milk yields of experimental DPL groupswere not significant. The highest MY (7808.6±135.1 Lt) wasobtained from ≥71 days DPL group and the lowest MY(7529.4±159.8 Lt) was obtained from ≤40 days DPL group. DPLhad significant effect on the number of inseminations resulted inpregnancy (P

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