Association between the lactation curve shape and calving interval in Holstein dairy cows of Iran

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between early lactation curve parameters andcalving interval in Holstein cows of Iran. In order to describe the lactation curve, the incomplete gammafunction was fitted to 5,754,428 test-day milk records corresponding to 766,108 lactations on 315,634 cowsin 2,448 herds. Cows with higher milk yield during early lactation had shorter calving intervals; however,longer calving intervals increased the 305-d milk production (P