EFFECTS OF PARITY, STAGE OF LACTATION AND CULLING REASON ON THE COMMERCIAL CARCASS WEIGHT OF FRENCH HOLSTEIN COWS

The objective of the study was to quantify the effects of lactation nu mber, age, calving-to-culling interval and culling reasons on the carc ass weights of cows culled after or without a fattening period. Data r egarding 4546 culled French Holstein cows from 79 commercial herds wer e used for that purpose. The data were collected during a prospective survey carried out from 1989 to 1994. Average net carcass weight was 3 09.4 kg (S.D. = 35.7 kg). The carcass weights of cows culled during th e first lactation differed from those of multiparous cows: means of 29 9.0 and 312.7 kg, respectively. Adjusted effects of calving-to-culling interval on carcass weight were larger in primiparous than in multipa rous cows. In primiparous cows,the effect of age at first calving resu lted in differences for carcass weight. Locomotor disorders, accidents and health disorders other than reproductive and udder disorders were associated with lower carcass weights. Infertility as a culling reaso n was associated with the highest carcass weights. Large variation bet ween farms was also noted. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.