The milking frequency of primiparous cows in their early stage of lactation and its impact on milking performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 436
Author(s):  
Beata Sitkowska ◽  
Dariusz Piwczyński ◽  
Magdalena Kolenda ◽  
Jolanta Różańska-Zawieja
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Stage Of Lactation ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Full Production ◽  
Milk Performance ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Potential Use

An automatic milking system allows cows to present their full production capability by not limiting them to a specific time when the milking occurs or a fix number of milkings per day. The beginning of the first lactation is a key point in terms of subsequent milk production. The aim of the present study was to indicate the relationship between the milking frequency of primiparous cows during the first month of lactation and their subsequent milk performance. Material of the study consisted of 25 Polish herds of Holstein–Friesian dairy cattle. All cows were milked with the use of an automatic milking system. Animals were divided into five groups, depending on the milking frequency in the first month after calving (MFF). The collected data were statistically processed using the multifactorial ANOVA. The best milk and milking parameters characterised primiparous cows, for which the average number of milkings per day was at the level of 3–3.5 or above, this group did not have a preferred time for their milking. This group of cows milked more frequently during the first month of lactation (MFF5) and had the highest milk yield (MY) and milking duration. The highest culling percentage (57.77%) was noted within the group of primiparous cows with the lowest milking frequency during the first month of lactation (MFF1). MFF5 animals maintained better milk and milking parameters in all months of lactation than did those in the other groups. Older animals, that calved after the 28th month of life, and those that calved during warmer seasons, showed the tendency to have a lower milking frequency and poorer milk and milking parameters. The findings obtained in the present study are interesting in terms of their potential use, because they show that frequent milking during the first month after calving corresponds to a better overall MY during that lactation. Hopefully, by promoting frequent milkings at the beginning of lactation, farmer may increase the overall lactation MY.

scholarly journals Factors affecting reproductive performance of dairy cows in a pasture-based, automatic milking system research farm: a retrospective, single-cohort study

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Talukder ◽  
P. Celi ◽  
K. L. Kerrisk ◽  
S. C. Garcia ◽  
N. K. Dhand
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
System Research ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
Herd Milk ◽  
Single Cohort

A retrospective, single-cohort study was conducted to identify production and health factors associated with reproductive performance in a pasture-based, automatic milking system research farm. The calving system of this herd shifted from split calving to year-round calving gradually during the study period. Data from 365 cows with 798 lactations were analysed. Reproductive outcome variables of interest were intervals from calving to first oestrus, to first insemination, and to conception, as well as number of inseminations per conception, probability of submission for insemination by 80 days in milk, probability of conception by 100 days in milk and probability of conception at first insemination. Production factors (milk yield and its composition, milking frequency), record of periparturient disease, parity and season of calving were considered as predictor variables. The associations between predictor and outcome variables were assessed by multivariable linear regression, logistic regression and survival analyses, for quantitative, binary and time-to-event outcomes, respectively. Average milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk were not significantly associated with any of the reproductive measures. The likelihood of conception by 100 days in milk decreased gradually with year of automatic milking system commissioning. Cows calved in autumn were 43% (hazard ratio 1.43, P < 0.05) more likely to conceive than cows calved in summer. Multiparous cows were more likely (P < 0.05) to be recorded for oestrus than primiparous cows. Twinning was negatively associated with the reproductive outcomes measured in the automatic milking system research herd. Milk yield and milking frequency during 100 days in milk had no effect on reproductive measures in the pasture-based, automatic milking system research herd.

scholarly journals Genetic Parameters Estimation of Milking Traits in Polish Holstein-Friesians Based on Automatic Milking System Data

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1943
Author(s):  
Joanna Aerts ◽  
Dariusz Piwczyński ◽  
Heydar Ghiasi ◽  
Beata Sitkowska ◽  
Magdalena Kolenda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Correlation ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Parameters Estimation ◽  
Random Regression ◽  
Effective Selection ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking

The automatic milking system (AMS) provides a large amount of information characterizing the course of each milking cow, which is not available in the conventional system. The aim of our study was to estimate heritability and genetic correlations for milk yield (MY), milking frequency (MF), and speed (MS) for 1713 Polish Holstein-Friesian primiparous cows milked in barns with an AMS. Daily heritability indicators estimated using second-order Legendre polynomials and Random Regression Models showed high variation during lactation, ranging 0.131–0.345 for MY, 0.153–0.322 for MF, and 0.336–0.493 for MS. The rates of genetic correlation between traits ranged: 0.561–0.929 for MY-MF, (−0.255)−0.090 for MF-MS, (−0.174)−0.020 for MY-MS. It is possible to carry out effective selection for milking speed, which provides an opportunity to increase the number of cows per milking robot, and thus increase the profitability of production in the herd. The results proved that selection for milk yield and daily milking frequency is also feasible. The research showed a high, positive genetic correlation between milking frequency and milk yield, which allows us to conclude that preferring breeding cows with a natural tendency to frequent visits to the milking robot should indirectly improve the genetic basis of milking.

Relationships between milking frequency, lactation persistency and milk yield in Swedish Red heifers and cows milked in a voluntary attendance automatic milking system

2011 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Pettersson ◽  
Kerstin Svennersten-Sjaunja ◽  
Christopher H Knight
Keyword(s):  
Milk Yield ◽  
Early Lactation ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
High Quartile ◽  
Total Milk ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
Rate Of Decline

A large dataset comprising output from an automatic milking (AM) system between 1999 and 2006 was examined and a total of 172 cow lactation curves and 68 heifer lactation curves were identified for further analysis. Relationships between milking frequency at different stages of lactation and lactation persistency and total lactation yield were determined. Cows had higher peak and total milk yields than heifers, but heifers had higher persistency (defined as the rate of decline in milk yield between days 100 and 300 post calving). Milking frequency did not differ significantly between cows and heifers in early lactation, but thereafter decreased significantly more in cows than in heifers. The effect of milking frequency on yield characteristics was analysed by comparing the highest and lowest quartiles for milking frequency. High milking frequency in early lactation was consistently associated with increased peak yield. High milking frequency averaged across the whole lactation was associated with increased peak yield in both cows and heifers, and with improved lactation persistency in cows only. This resulted in total lactation yield that was 21% greater in the high quartile cows compared with the low.

scholarly journals Features of concentrate feeding in an automatic milking system with free cow traffic

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 00010
Author(s):  
Delyus Sharipov ◽  
Oleg Yakimov ◽  
Firaya Akhmetzyanova ◽  
Ildar Galimullin
Keyword(s):  
Milk Yield ◽  
Complete Characterization ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
Daily Milk Yield ◽  
Daily Milk

The objective of this research was to study the main factors influencing the consumption of concentrate depending on the daily milk yield in an automatic milking system (AMS) with free cow traffic. The researchers obtained data by visiting AMS from 227 lactating Holstein dairy cows for 30 days. For a more complete characterization of milking activity and feeding concentrate during milking in the AMS, the cows were divided into 6 groups: with a milk yield less than 20.0 kg, 20.1–25.0, 25.1–30.0, 30.1–35.0, 35.1–40.0 and more than 40.1 kg per day. With an increase in milk production, the allocation of concentrate in the milking box increases (P<0.001). So, with a daily milk yield of 17.6 ± 0.5 kg, 4.93 ± 0.13 kg of concentrate was allocated, 23.0 ± 0.3 kg – 6.10±0.11 kg of, 27.9 ± 0.2 kg – 6.93 ± 0.09 kg, 32.7 ± 0.2 – 7.50 ± 0.15 kg, 37.3 ± 0.3 – 7.68 ± 0.29 kg and with a daily milk yield of 42.9 ± 0.4 kg allocated 8.00 ± 0.30 kg of concentrate. Wherein, the milking frequency between groups increases from 2.9 ± 0.1 to 3.1 ± 0.1 times a day. Box-visiting time has a significant impact on the consumption of concentrate. So, when visiting a milking box with a duration of 6.09 ± 0.42 min, cows consumed 4.53 kg of concentrate, with 6.96 ± 0.27 min (P<0.05) – 5.89 kg, 7.09 ± 0.22 min (P<0.05) – 6.51 kg, 7.25 ± 0.26 min (P<0.05) – 6.83 kg, 8.06 ± 0.40 min (P<0.01) – 7.08 kg and when the duration of the visit was 8.07 ± 0.31 min (P<0.01), animals consumed 7.39 kg of concentrate. Thus, we found that the cows of all productivity groups did not completely consume the concentrate allocated in AMS.

Supplementary feeding at milking and minimum milking interval effects on cow traffic and milking performance in a pasture-based automatic milking system

2007 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny G Jago ◽  
Kendra L Davis ◽  
Peter J Copeman ◽  
Ian Ohnstad ◽  
Murray M Woolford
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Mixed Breed ◽  
Treatment Experiment ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Automatic Milking System ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
Supplementary Feed

In extensive pastoral dairy farming systems herds graze 12 months of the year with the majority fed a near-100% pasture or conserved pasture diet. The viability of automatic milking in these systems will depend partly upon the amount of supplementary feed necessary to encourage cows to walk from the pasture to the milking unit but also on the efficient use of the automatic milking system (AMS). This paper describes a study to determine the importance of offering concentrate in the milking unit and the effect of minimum milking interval on cow movement and milking performance in a pasture-based AMS. The effects of feeding rate (FR0=0 kg or FR1=1 kg crushed barley/d) and minimum milking interval (MM6=6 h or MM12=12 h) on cow movement and behaviour during milking were studied in a multi-factorial cross-over (feeding level only, 4 weeks per treatment) experiment involving 27 mixed-breed cows milked through a single AMS. Feeding 1 kg barley in the milking unit resulted in a higher visiting frequency to the pre-selection unit (FR0=4·6 visits/d, FR1=5·4 visits/d, sed=0·35, P<0·05) and a higher yield (FR0=22·5 kg/d, FR1=23·6 kg/d, sed=0·385, P<0·01) but had no effect on milking frequency (FR0=1·6 milkings/d, FR1=1·7 milkings/d, sed=0·04, NS). Minimum milking interval was the major factor influencing milking frequency (MM6=1·9, MM12=1·4 milkings/d, sed=0·15, P<0·01). The absence of feeding in the milking unit had no negative effect on behaviour during milking or the number of cows that had to be manually driven from the paddock. The results show that automatic milking can be combined with a near-100% pasture diet and that milking interval is an important determinant for maximizing milk harvested per AMS.

scholarly journals Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Identification of Factors Influencing Milking Frequency of Cows in Automatic Milking Systems Combined with Grazing

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 913
Author(s):  
Françoise Lessire ◽  
Nassim Moula ◽  
Jean-Luc Hornick ◽  
Isabelle Dufrasne
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Milking Frequency ◽  
Automatic Milking ◽  
Automatic Milking Systems ◽  
The Relationship

More dairy farms (up to more than one in four in some countries) are equipped with automatic milking systems (AMS) worldwide. Because of the positive impacts of grazing, e.g., on animal welfare or on production costs, numerous researchers have published papers on the combination of AMS with grazing. However, pasture-based AMS usually causes a reduction in milking frequency (MF) compared to indoors systems. The objectives of this meta-analysis were to review publications on the impacts of pasture-based AMS on MF and mitigation strategies. First, data from 43 selected studies were gathered in a dataset including 14 parameters, and on which a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed, leading to the description of four clusters summarizing different management practices. Multiple pairwise comparisons were performed to determine the relationship between the highlighted parameters of MF on milk yield (MY). From these different analyses, the relationship between MF and MY was confirmed, the systems, i.e., Clusters 1 and 2, that experienced the lowest MF also demonstrated the lowest MY/cow per day. In these clusters, grazed grass was an essential component of the cow’s diet and low feeding costs compensated MY reduction. The management options described in Clusters 3 and 4 allowed maintenance of MF and MY by complementing the cows’ diets with concentrates or partial mixed ration supplied at the AMS feeding bin or provided at barn. The chosen management options were closely linked to the geographical origin of the papers indicating that other factors (e.g., climatic conditions or available grasslands) could be decisional key points for AMS management strategies.

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