Milk yield and composition, nutrition, body conformation traits, body condition scores, fertility and diseases in high-yielding dairy cows--Part 1.

Twenty-nine pairs of high-yielding dairy cows (HC; > or = 45 kg/day reached at least once during lactation) and corresponding control cows (CC; with milk yields representing the average yield of the herds) were examined on 29 Swiss farms from March 1995 to September 1996. The hypotheses were tested that there are differences in feed intake, body-conformation traits, body weight (BW), body condition score (BCS), fertility status and disease incidence between HC and CC cows. Cows were studied 2 weeks before and at 5, 9, 13, 17 and 40 weeks post-partum.

Metabolic, enzymatic and endocrine status in high-yielding dairy cows--Part 2.

Pairs of 29 high-yielding (HC) dairy cows (> or = 45 kg/day reached at least once during lactation) and 29 corresponding control (CC) cows (with milk yields representing the average yield of the herds) were studied in 29 Swiss farms from March 1995 to September 1996. The hypothesis tested was that there are differences in metabolic, enzymatic and endocrine status between HC and CC cows. Cows were studied 2 weeks before and at 5, 9, 13, 17 and 40 weeks post-partum.