Milk production in East African zebu cattle

1962 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Galukande ◽  
P. Mahadevan ◽  
J. G. Black

An analysis has been made of milk production data from indigenous East African zebu cattle at the Baraton, Maseno and Sangalo Livestock Improvement Centres in Kenya, covering a period of twenty-five to thirty years.The relationships between milk production and length of lactation, dry period, calving interval, month of calving and age were examined. Lactation length accounted for from 53% to 66% of the total variance in milk yield. Variations in length of dry period caused significant differences in milk yield between, but not within cows. Increasing length of previous calving interval improved current lactation milk yield but month of calving had no significant effect. Yield increased from first to second lactation by 8% after which it remained relatively constant up to the fifth lactation. Age at first calving was positively correlated with first lactation milk yield.Intra-herd repeatabilities were 0·55 for milk yield, 0·38 for lactation length, 0·17 for calving interval and 0·12 for dry period. The highest estimates of heritability were those obtained for lactation yield and length (0·5); the lowest, for calving interval, was close to zero. All heritability estimates had high standard errors. The probable genetic improvement in milk production achieved by the selection practised in the herds was estimated as ranging from zero to 0·15% of the average yield per year.

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-104
Author(s):  
OA Olorunnisomo ◽  
AA Oni ◽  
JO Abiola

In order to kick-start milk production and upgrade genetic base of local zebu cattle at the University of Ibadan, four in-calf Jersey heifers and one bull were acquired in September 2012, from a pure herd of Jersey cattle maintained on a private farm in Shonga, Kwara State, Nigeria. Management at Shonga was based on an intensive, zero-grazing system. The animals were apparently in a good state of health at the time of procurement. At the University of Ibadan, management was also intensive, with partial grazing, fortified grass silage and concentrates supplementation. Health management of Jersey cattle involved preventive and curative measures. Calving occurred within 7 and 156 days of arrival at Ibadan. Two out of four heifers calved successfully while two had still-births. Calves were allowed to suckle their dams for 14 days after calving and bottle-fed from milk collected from their dams afterwards. Milking was done twice daily at 7am and 4pm using a portable milking machine. Milk yield averaged 8.8 kg/cow/day with lactation length ranging between 93 and 246 days. Average composition of milk was 13.69, 3.60, 4.73, 0.65 and 4.71% for total solids, protein, fat, ash and carbohydrate respectively. In order to maximize milk production from Jersey cattle under the humid tropical condition of Ibadan, there is need to maintain a high plane of nutrition, adopt a preventive healthcare system and incorporate a cooling system to ameliorate the effects of high ambient temperatures.Key words: calving age, dairy cattle, lactation length, milk composition, milk yield


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.K. Joshi ◽  
A. Singh ◽  
R.S. Gandhi

SummaryThe Sahiwal cattle, one of the best dairy breeds of Zebu cattle in India and Pakistan, originate from the Montgomery district of Pakistan and is distributed on farmer herds in certain pockets of the bordering districts of Punjab and Rajsthan in India. The animals of this breed are also available in Kenya and are used for crossing with local East African Zebu types to improve milk production. Sahiwal cattle have deep body, loose skin, short legs, stumpy horns and a broad head with pale red to dark brown body colour. The average body weight in adult females and males is around 350 and 500 kg, respectively. The animals of this breed are maintained on various State and Central Government farms, privately owned farms, charitable trusts and a small proportion of animals are also available with the farmers. More than 1 200 breedable females are available at various farms in the country. The average lactation milk yield of Sahiwal cattle on organized farms ranges between 1 500 to 2 500 kg. However, in well-managed herds, the highest lactation milk production in certain cows is more than 4 500 kg. The overall weighted average milk yield, age at first calving, lactation length and calving interval based on the performance at various herds is around 1 900 kg, 36 months, 315 days and 420 days, respectively. The fat and Solid Non Fat (SNF) percent ranges from 4.6 to 5.2 percent and 8.9 to 9.3 percent, respectively. Quite a large proportion of pure-bred Sahiwal cattle maintained on organized breeding farms has been used for the production of cross-bred cattle. As a result, different cross-bred strains of dairy cattle viz Karan Swiss, Karan Fries and Frieswal have evolved at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal and Military Dairy Farms. The breed has also been utilized for the production of synthetic strains like Jamaica Hope (JH), Australian Milking Zebu (AMZ) and Australian Friesian Sahiwal (AFS) in other countries. Currently, efforts are being made to characterize, evaluate and conserve the breed in field conditions. More than 0.10 million doses of frozen semen of this breed are cryopreserved at various semen banks in the country. The frozen semen is being utilized for strengthening and genetically improving the existing herds of the breed through progeny testing programmes of sires associating various herds of Sahiwal in the country.


Author(s):  
Poonam Ratwan ◽  
Ajoy Mandal ◽  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
A. K. Chakravarty

Present study was carried out with the aim to determine the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors on milk production efficiency traits and their genetic control. Data on milk production efficiency traits i.e. total milk yield per day of lactation length and total milk yield per day of calving interval in Jersey crossbred animals maintained at organized herd of ICARNational Dairy Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal spread over 29 years (1986-2014) were analyzed in the study. The overall least-squares means of total milk yield per day of lactation length and total milk yield per day of calving interval were estimated as 6.97±0.21 and 6.02±0.23 kg/day, respectively. The data was grouped into different sub-classes of season of calving, period of calving, parity and genetic group of animals. The random effect of sire had shown significant (p<0.01) influence on milk production efficiency traits. Various environment factors significantly affected the milk production efficiency traits indicating the scope of improvement in management of these crossbred animals. The heritability estimates of 0.54 for TMY/LL and 0.63 for TMY/CI were high in magnitude which suggests that fast genetic progress can be made, if these animals are selected based on the milk production efficiency traits.


1961 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mahadevan ◽  
H. J. S. Marples

In the herd of Nganda cattle at the Government Livestock Experiment Station, Entebbe, Uganda, it was found that of the known environmental factors affecting milk production, the more important ones were age (in lactations) and length of the calving interval preceding the second and third lactations. The correlations between performance in different lactations of the same animal were high for lactation milk yield (0·73) and average daily milk yield (0·62) and low for calving interval (0·21) and dry period (0·15). The repeatability of lactation length was intermediate (0·42). The heritability values were around 0·3 for the weight measurements, around 0·2 for yield characteristics and around 0·1 for length of lactation and age at first calving.The sires used in the breeding programme at Entebbe made little impact on production performance in the herd. The estimated genetic improvement in milk yield through selection of dams of cows was also low. It is argued from comparison with results from other parts of the tropics that superior genotypes for milk production are difficult to come by among indigenous cattle in these areas and that we should therefore look for other opportunities and methods to move ahead faster in the future.


1978 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Adeneye ◽  
Adetowun K. Adebanjo

SummaryDuring the period 1962–73, the majority of the 92 lactations of imported British Friesian animals were initiated during the dry season (October–March). The following average values were obtained: lifetime number of lactations, 4·5; lifetime milk production, 9392 kg; age at producing first live calf, 39·6 months; milk yield of nine lactations, 2159 kg; lactation length, 336·5 days; daily milk yield, 6·3 kg; 305-day milk yield, 2012 kg; dry period, 173 days.Milk production was highest in the fourth lactation when the animals averaged 7 years old. Differences in milk yield among lactations were small. Peak daily milk yield was greatest in the third lactation and was reached within the first 21 days of each of the first four lactations. A second but lower peak with the highest milk production persistencies at a later stage of lactation apparently depended on feed availability. The 305-day milk yield was reasonably predicted from the 100- and 200-day yields.Lactations subsequent to abortions and stillbirths were slightly longer, gave less milk (P > 0·05) and were followed by longer dry periods than those initiated by normal births.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
MK Uddin ◽  
AA Mintoo ◽  
TM Awal ◽  
M Kondo ◽  
AKMA Kabir

This survey study was conducted in Tangail, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajganj, Pabna and Thakurgaon districts for household farming, and in Bhola, Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Patuakhali districts for bathan farming to undertake an assessment on the management factors in household and bathan farming for identifying the potentiality and constraints in milk production from buffalo. A 90 number of pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection by direct interviewing of buffalo farmers. From this study, it was revealed that 82% of the farmers have 1 to 3 buffalo per household and 73% of the farmers have 51 to 200 buffalo per bathan. Buffaloes were raised in homestead and approximately 5-7 hours were grazes per day in household farming. Small quantity of concentrate feeds were offered to buffalo by the rich farmers during dry season. On the other hand, in bathan, farmers were fully depended to feed the buffalo on grazing at public land. In household, the average daily milk production was 3 to 8 liters and total milk yield was 799 liters in a lactation length of 270 days. In bathan, the average daily milk production was 1 to 2 liters and total milk yield was 435 liters in a lactation length of 215 days. The average age of first calving, service per conception, gestation period and calving interval were 39 months, 1.9 numbers, 310 days and 490 days, respectively in household farming. The average age of first calving, service per conception, gestation period and calving interval were 40 months, 2.1 numbers, 315 days and 530 days, respectively in bathan farming; however, further study is required on the buffalo nutrition in the bathan farming.Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2016. 45 (1):69-77


Author(s):  
P.D. Chendge ◽  
S.U. Waghmare ◽  
S.P. Harane ◽  
S.L. Khatke ◽  
D.J. Bhagat ◽  
...  

Background: Buffaloes are economically important in particular region and also buffalo milk are nutritionally rich. In Konkan region, buffalo should be rarely used only to get female buffalo for milk production. To improve the non-descript buffalo population for milk production and reproduction performance. Methods: During survey period January, 2021 to February, 2021, record of 400 non-descript buffalo, 270 non-descript buffalo having more than 4 years age old to be selected. Result: The average daily milk yield, peak milk yield, total lactation milk yield, lactation length and dry period in non-descript buffaloes were 6.45±0.16 liters, 7.6±0.14 liters, 2007.66±45.83 liters, 302.86±0.34 days and 146.66±0.48 days, respectively. The average age at first calving, calving interval, service period, gestation period and number of calving were 45.96±0.18 months, 449.30±0.53 days, 128.86±0.31 days, 303.66±0.49 days, 2.72±0.12 numbers, respectively and autumn season of calving was more than another season.


Author(s):  
M.S. Khan ◽  
K. Z. Gondal ◽  
S. H. Raza ◽  
A. A. Asghar

There are many computational algorithms available for estimating (co) variance components under multiple trait models. Paternal half-sib correlation is the most commonly used method for estimating genetic parameters of economic traits of buffaloes. The models used are Single trait, ignoring covariances with other traits. The relationship matrices are also ignored. This study was undertaken to estimate genetic parameters of first lactation traits of Nili Ravi buffaloes under a multiple trait animal model. First lactation milk yield was l7% heritable when traits such as age of calving interval were considered. Age at first calving was 18% heritable with very low genetic correlations with other traits. Lactation length, dry period and calving interval were lowly heritable traits. Estimates differed by inclusion or exclusion of traits due to the covariances present among all these traits. A high genetic correlation between mills yield and lactation length (0.74) does not warrant the selection of milk yield as the only trait.


1969 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 540-550
Author(s):  
J. K. Camoens ◽  
R. E. McDowell ◽  
L. D. VanVleck ◽  
J. D. Rivera Anaya

Records of high grade or purebred Holsteins in 62 herds on DHIA recording in Puerto Rico were used to determine phenotypic correlations of lactation length, days dry prior to lactation, days open during lactation, and interval from previous parturition (calving interval) to lactation, milk and fat yields, and fat percent. Both milk and fat yields had a significant (P < .05) positive phenotypic correlation with lactation length, calving interval, and days open (0.178 to 0.658), hut fat percent had a low relation to these traits (-0.023 to +0.014). Lactation length, dry period, days open, and calving interval were regressed on milk yield, fat yield, and fat percent. The combined contribution of these variables to variation in milk yield was 44.4%. Days open, days dry, and calving interval accounted for only 13.4% of the variation in milk yield. Days dry and days open together accounted for 9.6% of the variation, and days dry, plus calving interval, made up 6.0%, of the variation. The values for fat yield were slightly lower but followed a similar pattern as for milk yield. The four variables combined contributed only 0.23% to the variance in fat percent. Total milk yield and fat yield were inf1uenced by lactation length, calving interval, and days dry in descending order of magnitude. Days open had comparatively little influence on either milk or fat yields. Length of dry period influenced fat percent more than any other variable but to little extent. Since the majority of the variation in milk and fat yields attributed to the four variables was due to lactation length, it appears that in Puerto Rico selection with emphasis on lactation yields is unlikely to decrease fertility.


Author(s):  
Nawal Kishor Pareek ◽  
K. J. Ankuya ◽  
M. P. Patel ◽  
B. S. Rathod ◽  
K. B. Prajapati

The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of non-genetic factors, viz., service period (SP), dry period (DP) and gestation period (GP) on various milk production traits in Kankrej cattle. 1235 lactation records (2nd-7th) of 475 Kankrej cows, progeny of 75 bulls that were maintained at University Livestock Research Station, Sardarkrushinagar (Gujarat), calved during 1980-2014, were studied. The effects of service period (111.64 ± 52.55 days) and dry period (143.17±28.78 days) on total lactation milk yield (2089.45±582.38 kg),305 days milk yield (2045.66±531.92 kg) and lactation length (282.90±49.46 days) were highly significant (pis less than 0.01), while the effect of gestation period (288.86±7.14 days) was non-significant on all these production traits. Cows which took more time to conceive after parturition produced more milk with longer lactation length


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