A Research on Some Reproductive Performances and Culling Reasons of Brown Swiss and Holstein Cows in Erzurum City

The aim of this study was to determine the reproductive performance and culling reasons by using some reproductive records of 165 Brown Swiss and Holstein cows, between 2008-2013 years. Ages at first breeding of heifers in Browns Swiss and Holstein breeds were determined as 728 and 712 days, respectively. The numbers of artificial insemination for each pregnancy were 1.54 for Brown Swiss and 1.58 for Holstein breed and the herd s mean was calculated as 1.56. Service period and calving interval, determined for the Brown Swiss and Holstein cows were 114 and 116 days; 397 and 393 days, respectively and it is found that, the breed of cow and the parity had no significant effect on these two traits (P 0.05). Within the herd, the productive lives calculated for the Brown Swiss and Holstein breeds were 2.7 and 1.8 years, respectively. For all ages, it was determined that the most important reason for the culling was low production level of the cows. In young cows (2-5 years old), it was obtained that the involuntary culling was originated mainly from reproductive problems. As a result of the study, it is concluded that, the economic profit of the herd might have been affected adversely by the age at first breeding of heifers such that it was quite high and the reproductive life of cows were too short in Holstein breed.