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Studies on the effects of milking on calf growth and viability and on cow reproductive performance in traditionally managed N'Dama herds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

K. Agyemang ,
R. H. Dwinger ,
A. S. Grieve  and
D. A. Little
K. Agyemang
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
R. H. Dwinger
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
A. S. Grieve
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
D. A. Little
Affiliation:
International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
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Abstract

The effects of milking on the overall productivity of N'Dama cattle kept under village conditions were studied using three groups of cows during a 27-month period. One group of 46 cows in 16 herds in Nioro Jattaba village was not milked for human consumption and their calves had access to all of their milk (group 1). Another group of 46 cows in the same herds was partially milked for human use once a day while the calves had access to the residual milk (group 2), the normal husbandry practice in this village. A third group of 70 cows in six herds, managed similarly in a similar production environment in the nearby village of Keneba, was milked twice daily with the residual milk for their calves, the normal husbandry in this village. A mean extraction of 296 (s.d. 110·7) kg milk per cow occurred in group 2 during a lactation period of 517 days while the figure for group 3 was 450 (s.d. 177·7) kg per cow over 430 days. At the end of the observation period, calf mortality to 12 months averaged 6% and was similar in all groups. Calf weights at 12 months in group 1 (98·1 kg) exceeded that of groups 2 and 3 by proportionately 0·26 and 0·38 (P < 0·001) respectively. Mean calving rate was 53% in groups 1 and 2, and 72% in group 3. Post-partum body-weight losses were most severe in group 1, followed in order by groups 2 and 3. A herd productivity index (incorporating calf weight, live weight equivalent of milk extracted for human use, cow and calf viability and calving rate) was 100·7 kg calf weight per 100 kg metabolic weight of cow per year for group 1, 110·2 for group 2 and 166·1 kg for group 3. These values suggest that recommendations to small-holder farmers for enhancing livestock productivity should include strategies to improve milk yields in general rather than advocating no milk extraction or changing the milking regime currently practised.

Keywords

Gambiamilk productionN'Damareproductive performance
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , August 1991 , pp. 11 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1991

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