JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate nutritional status in Isfahan dairy herds and the relationship between milk urea nitrogen (MUN) and fertility in the first postpartum insemination. Blood and milk samples were collected from 170 and 290 Holstein cows from 9 dairy herds, respectively. Feed samples were also collected to quantify the relationship between MUN and protein and energy content of the ration. When simple linear regression was used, a close relationship was found to exist between blood and milk urea nitrogen. Regression equations indicated crude protein percentage and protein to energy ratio in the diet only explained 7 and 10 percent of milk urea nitrogen variations, respectively. The low correlation coefficient is probably due to incorrect nutritional management and variation in diet composition in different feeding days. Logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between MUN and fertility. A negative curvilinear relationship existed between MUN and rate of pregnancy at first insemination. Since cows with MUN concentrations of 16.5 to 19 mg/dl had a better chance for pregnancy than those having either below or above these values, it seems likely that pregnancy chances for those cows having this range of MUN concentration are 1.94 and 1.63 times more than cows with less than 14 mg/dl and between 14 - 16 mg/dl, respectively. The results of this study indicated that although MUN is a useful tool for nutritional management of dairy cows, it is not suitable for monitoring reproductive performance.

Keywords: Blood urea nitrogen, Milk urea nitrogen, Fertility, Dairy cow.

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