The milking frequency of primiparous cows in their early stage of lactation and its impact on milking performance
Beata Sitkowska A C , Dariusz Piwczyński A , Magdalena Kolenda A and Jolanta Różańska-Zawieja BA Department of Biotechnology and Animal Genetics, Faculty of Animal Breeding and Biology, UTP University of Science and Technology, Mazowiecka 28 Street, 85-084 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
B Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznan University of Life Science, Wojska Polskiego 28 Street, 60-637 Poznań, Poland.
C Corresponding author. Email: beatas@utp.edu.pl
Animal Production Science 60(3) 436-443 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN18409
Submitted: 29 June 2018 Accepted: 9 July 2019 Published: 16 December 2019
Abstract
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.
Additional keywords: automatic milking system, milk yield, milking parameters, culling.
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