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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2011

Gunnar Pettersson ,
Kerstin Svennersten-Sjaunja  and
Christopher H Knight
Gunnar Pettersson
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Kungsängen's Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-753 23 Uppsala, Sweden
Kerstin Svennersten-Sjaunja
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Kungsängen's Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-753 23 Uppsala, Sweden
Christopher H Knight*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Kungsängen's Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-753 23 Uppsala, Sweden Department of Basic Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-1870 Frederiksberg, Denmark
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

Dairy cattleautomatic milkingmilking frequencylactation persistency
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 379 - 384
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2011

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