Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-02T04:21:51.806Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of environment and heredity on lactation. I. Milk yield

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. Mahadevan
P. Mahadevan
Affiliation:
The Hannah Dairy Research Institute, Kirkhill, Ayr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

1. A statistical study of the causes of variation in milk yields has been made on the basis of 5000 lactation records from twelve leading herds of Ayrshire cattle in south-west Scotland for the period 1930–9.

2. The unit of measurement of milk production employed was the yield during the first 180 days of the lactation period. This eliminated the effect of variations in length of current calving interval on milk yield.

3. The effect of month of calving on milk yield varied significantly between herds, and it was shown that correction factors for month of calving should be calculated on a within-herd basis. The average difference in 180-day yield between the summer and winter calvers of all herds was about 10% in favour of winter calvers.

4. The milk yield of a cow was found to be influenced both by the number of her previous lactations and also by her age at calving. The types of corrections for age employed by previous investigators were discussed, and it was shown that percentage corrections are the most satisfactory.

5. There was a positive correlation between milk yield and length of preceding calving interval. From an economic point of view, the optimum length of calving interval was about 400 days for the first lactation, and 1 year for subsequent ones. Corrections for preceding calving interval, like those for age, were most satisfactory when they were proportionate and not additive.

6. No significant differences were found among the first three records of a cow in their ability to indicate her actual production capacity. The probable performance of a cow in any lactation was predicted as accurately from the lactation immediately preceding it as from the average of a number of previous lactations.

7. The average repeatability of milk yield was 0.46, and heritability was of the order of 0.25–0.30.

8. The probable effect on herd improvement of selecting breeding females was found to be very small, extremely little genetic progress being attained by this method in the twelve herds.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 41 , Issue 1-2 , January 1951 , pp. 80 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1951

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Glen, J. & McCandlish, A. C. (1930). J. Agric. Sci. 20, 45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetzer, H. O., Dickerson, G. E. & Zeller, J. H. (1944). J. Anim. Sci. 3, 390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johansson, I. & Hansson, A. (1940). Kungl. Lantbruksakademiens Tidskrift. Specialhafte, 3, 127 pp.Google Scholar
Kay, R. R. & McCandlish, A. C. (1929). J. Agric. Sci. 19, 342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruger, L. (1934). Arb. dtsch. Ges. Zücht. H. 64, 197 pp.Google Scholar
Lush, J. L. (1940). Proc. Amer. Soc. Anim. Prod., p. 293.Google Scholar
Lush, J. L. (1942). J. Dairy Sci. 25, 975.Google Scholar
Lush, J. L., Norton, H. W. & Arnold, F. (1941). J. Dairy Sci. 24, 695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rendel, J. M. & Robertson, A. (1950). J. Genet. 50, 1.Google Scholar
Sanders, H. G. (1927). J. Agric. Sci. 17, 339 and 502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, H. G. (1928). J. Agric. Sci. 18, 46 and 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sikka, L. C. (1940). Ph.D. Thesis, University of Glasgow, 215 pp.Google Scholar
Tuff, P. (1931). Int. Dairy Congr. Paper 29, p. 151.Google Scholar
Tyler, W. J. & Hyatt, J. (1947). J. Anim. Sci. 6, 479.Google Scholar
von Patow, C. (1930). Z. Zücht. 17, 3.Google Scholar
Ward, A. H. & Campbell, J. T. (1938). J. Agric. Sci. 28, 509.Google Scholar
Winsor, C. P. & Clarke, G. L. (1940). J.Marine Res. 3, 1.Google Scholar
Yates, F. (1933). J. Agric. Sci. 23, 108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zorn, W. & Funke, A. (1935). Züchtungskunde, 10, 193.Google Scholar