Title | Lactational performance of straightbred Angus cows and three Angus-dairy-cross genotypes. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2013 |
Authors | Roca-Fraga, F. J. , Hickson R E. , Lopez-Villalobos N. , Kenyon P R. , and Morris S T. |
Keywords | Cow efficiency project |
Abstract |
The objective of this study was to determine the milk yield and lactation curves of 117 threeyear-old Angus (AA), Angus×Friesian (AF), Angus×Jersey (AJ) and Angus×Kiwi-Cross (AK) cows, rearing singleton calves sired by either Angus or Simmental bulls. Milk yield was estimated using the weigh-suckle-weigh technique (WSW) recorded at day 32, 49, 80, 120 and 160 days postpartum (dpp). A third-order Legendre polynomial was fitted to lactation data using random regression. Cows from AF, AJ and AK groups reached peak lactation at a similar (P>0.05) stage of lactation (71±7, 74±6 and 82±9 days, respectively), but later (P<0.05) than AA cows (46±6 days). Peak milk yield was the greatest (P<0.05) for AF cows (12.1±0.4 kg) followed by AK and AJ cows (11.4±0.5 kg 10.9±0.3 kg, respectively). Cows from AJ and AK groups produced more milk at peak lactation (P<0.05) than AA cows (9.8±0.31 kg). Overall, AF cows produced more (P<0.05) milk from day 32 to day 160 (1337.3±22.3 kg) than AJ and AA cows (1244.5±19.9 kg and 1017.5±19.99 kg, respectively), although their milk production did not differ (P>0.05) from AK cows (1307.8±31.6 kg). Angus×Friesian, AJ and AK cows produced more milk throughout lactation than AA cows |
URL | http://www.aaabg.org/aaabghome/AAABG20papers/rocafraga20142.pdf |