Milk flow traits of Friesian, Jersey and Friesian-Jersey crossbred cows under grazing conditions in New Zealand

Abstract Text: Means of milking characteristics of the main breed groups of New Zealand dairy cattle, Friesian (F), Jersey (J) and F×J crossbred were predicted with a mixed model using 621,116 electronically recorded milk flows on 1,555 cows in two herds during 2011 and 2012. Friesian cows showed a significantly higher bimodal (BM) milk flow curves than J cows, and F×J cows showed intermediate values. Friesian cows produced a significantly higher milk weight (MW) than F×J, which produced a significantly higher MW than J cows. However, there were no significant differences in milking duration (MD) between the three breed groups. Higher MW at similar MD of F cows resulted in a higher average milk flow (AMF) than F×J, which had a significantly higher AMF than J cows. Breed differences for milking characteristics can be exploited in breeding programs to improve milk harvesting efficiency.

Keywords:

dairy cattle

crossbreeding

milking characteristics