β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) content was significantly affected by day in milk, age at first calving, herd, year and month of the first test day in milk of Holstein primiparous cows. Heritability of BHB content was 7%. Estimated breeding values (EBV) of bulls were correlated with EBV for other routinely evaluated traits. A negative association was found between EBV for BHB content and EBV for longevity and daughters‘ fertility. The correlation between BHB and milk fertility traits reflected the higher susceptibility of high producing cows to hyperketonemia.