Estimation of Lactation Persistency in Different Classes of Crossbred Jersey and Red Sindhi Cows

Abstract

Lactation persistency is a critical economic factor in the dairy cow production system. It refers to a cow's ability to continue producing milk after it has reached its peak. Milk yield is an important trait in dairy industry; thus, information regarding this phenotype is essential to measure the productivity of a farm. This article aims to estimate the persistency of milk yield in lactation first of various grades of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi, ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi, 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi, 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crossbred of cows. Data was collected from pedigree cum history sheet. Milk yield from the first lactations (L1) of 83 cows and 498 observations of various grades of Jersey x Red Sindhi crossbred cows were recorded in kilograms. Samples were collected up to six months. The mean of milk yield for six months in L1were 168.93±6.46 kg of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi crosses, 176.72±4.73Kg of ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi crosses,158.64±10.66 kg of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses, 157.63±4.86kg of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses, respectively. The peak of milk yields was achieved at the second month of the lactation for L1 were 190.78-274.63 kg of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi crosses, 162.29-310.71 kg of ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi crosses, 155.16-267 kg of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses, 142.32-283.99 kg of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses, respectively. The persistency of milk yield for L1 were 2.51±0.16 of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi crosses, 2.30 ± 0.09 of ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi crosses, 2.62±0.22 of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses, 2.58±0.14 of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses respectively. Milk yield persistency is the ability of animal to maintain milk production after reaching its peak yield during lactation period. The more persistent dairy cattle show better performance. The present study concluded that persistency of cows could be useful in selecting those have the higher estimates in order to improve the productivity of the herds.