Indications and implications for testing of milk urea in dairy cattle: a quantitative review. Part 2. Effect of dietary protein on reproductive performance

DIETARY PROTEIN AND DAIRY COW FERTILITY: Feeding more dietary protein has been negatively associated with dairy cow fertility in some but not all studies. We used meta-analysis to examine the relationship between dietary crude protein and conception rate. While a higher intake of dietary crude protein significantly lowered conception rate, the potential for feeding less degradable dietary protein to modify this relationship was not demonstrated. MILK UREA CONCENTRATIONS AND DAIRY COW FERTILITY: The use of milk urea as an indicator of dietary energy and protein intake and as an indicator of reproductive performance has been questioned. We found that changes in urea concentration in body fluids explained only 25% (p = 0.08) of the variance in conception rate after conducting a meta-analysis of available studies. INTERPRETATION OF MILK UREA CONCENTRATIONS: High intakes of dietary protein may induce adaptations in urea metabolism, and the negative relationship identified between high intakes of dietary protein and fertility for Northern Hemisphere dairy herds may not necessarily apply in Australasian dairy herds. Because of the potential for cows to adapt to high protein diets, the use of a single milk urea determination on a herd will have limited value as an indicator of nutritional status and little value as a predictor of fertility.