Comparative analysis of the reproductive performance of dairy herds based on standardized parameters in Hungary

SUMMARY A survey was carried out in Hungarian dairies to obtain the current values of the most commonly used reproductive indices, to introduce more powerful reproduc tive parameters and to examine their practical applicability. Data were collected from February to May 2015, and altogether 12,723 cows were included from 21 herds in six counties. Average values of the conventional indices were: service period (SP) – 160.1 days, services per conception (SPC) – 4.3 and first service con ception rate (CR1) – 22.3%. The SP, SPC and CR1 were much poorer than the for mer reference values even in the best herds. It was proven that Pregnancy Rate (PR) is applicable in Hungarian dairy farms due to its strong correlation with other reproductive parameters. In this study corrected Pregnancy Rate (cPR) was intro duced as a novel parameter that is destined for overcoming inaccuracies stem ming from Hungarian culling policy. PR was 9.6% and cPR was 17.3%, on average. PR and cPR should be brought to the fore instead of productivity, since these parameters better reflect the reproductive performance of the herd. SPC should not be overemphasized, because it is much less relevant from an economic point of view e.g. compared to SP. Reproductive performance must always be evalu ated taking several indices into account. The use of some relevant parameters (PR, cPR, CR1, SP) is enough for the daily routine, but in-depth analysis is required when the reproductive performance is diminishing