Associations between milk protein concentration at various stages of lactation and reproductive performance in dairy cows

Milk protein concentration has been positively associated with a range of measures of reproductive performance in dairy cows. These beneficial associations are most likely due to factors affecting both milk protein concentration and reproductive performance possibly being mediated, in part, by energy balance during early lactation. However, it is likely that factors other than energy balance are also involved in these relationships. A retrospective single cohort study was conducted using subsets of data collected from 74 dairy herds with seasonal or split calving patterns. Associations between milk protein concentration at various stages of lactation and reproductive performance in Holstein dairy cows were assessed using random effects logistic regression and survival analysis with milk protein concentration during the cow's breeding period fitted as a time-varying covariate. The beneficial associations between milk protein concentration and each of the 4 selected indices for measuring reproductive performance were evident when milk protein concentration was derived for each 30-d period from calving up to 300 d in milk. For the first 150 d of lactation the adjusted odds ratios were highest from 31 to 60 d and only slightly lower for all periods up to 150 d of lactation. Estimated associations for 31 to 60 d were stronger than for 0 to 30 d. In addition, milk protein concentration during a cow's breeding period was positively associated with the subsequent daily hazard of conception, even after adjusting for milk protein concentration in the cow's first or second month of lactation. Milk protein concentrations from 0 to 30 d of lactation were less closely correlated with concentrations measured at subsequent 30-d intervals; correlations were closer between other periods in lactation. These results indicate that the association between milk protein concentration and reproductive performance is partly due to factors other than the extent of negative energy balance in early lactation. However, it is possible that energy balance accounts for some of the relationship as the magnitude and direction of energy balance can vary within and between cows throughout lactation. Factors determining milk protein concentration during the first 30 d of lactation are not identical to the causes of milk protein concentration later in lactation, and some of the latter causes of milk protein concentration may be more closely related to the underlying mechanisms contributing to the milk protein concentration-reproductive performance relationship. Milk protein concentrations from a single test day from any day of lactation predict subpopulations of cows with differing average reproductive performance; milk protein concentrations measured after 30 d of lactation are more useful than concentrations measured in the first 30 d for identifying these subpopulations. Further research is required to identify the causes of these associations.