the objective of this study was to estimates the genetic and environmental components for the lactation curve parameters, milk yield, age at first calving (afc), calving interval (ci) and somatic cell count (scc) in iranian holstein cows. the dataset consisted of 210625 test day records from 25883 cows with milk yield in the first parity recorded from july 2002 to september 2007 in a total of 9...

In complex task domains, such as games, students may exceed their teachers. Such tasks afford diverse means to tradeoff one type of performance for another, combining task elements in novel ways to yield method variations and strategy discoveries that, if mastered, might produce large or small leaps in performance. For the researcher interested in the development of extreme expertise in the wil...

Milk yield, milk flow, and udder morphology traits were measured in 72 East Friesian crossbred multiparous ewes to estimate the variation in milk flow patterns present in this research flock, and to asses the repeatability of these measurements and their relationships with other lactation traits. A special milk flow apparatus designed for dairy ewes was used on two consecutive morning milkings ...

This study investigated whether the prenatal maternal environment in dairy cattle influences the postnatal milking performance of the resulting daughters and grand-daughters. Linear mixed models were used to analyse whole season milk production from ∼ 46,000 Jersey and ∼ 123,000 Holstein Friesian cows in their 1st and 2nd lactations. Variation in the prenatal environment was associated with a s...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of birth weight (BW) on future milk production and reproductive performance in Iranian Holstein cattle. Records of Holstein cows between 1967 and 2010 were obtained from the Animal Breeding Center of Iran. Birth weights within each herd were grouped into five categories based on the standard normal distribution curves (z ≤-0.8416, -0.841...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of milking frequency (three times daily vs. two times daily) on the lactation curve shape, partial and 305-d lactation performance in Holstein dairy cows in Iran. Data from February 2000 to December 2012 comprising 217345 lactations on 141364 cows distributed in 324 herds collected by the Animal Breeding Center of Iran were used. The mean milk...

First-parity 305-d milk yield and intervals between first and second kiddings from 1975 through 2005 were analyzed to estimate genetic and environmental parameters for United States Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Saanen, and Toggenburg dairy goats. The data set included 43,612 does with first-parity milk yield and 25,863 does with first kidding interval. Parameters were estimated by REML using bivar...

Some dairy farmers opt to omit one milking, either incidentally or weekly, without changing other milking times. This practice entails an extended milking interval of 24h (24h-MI), which is associated with a decrease in milk yield. This decrease varies among cows and could be partly due to factors such as stage of lactation and milk yield level. The aim of this study was to describe the average...

This review focuses on the nutritional effects from birth until age at first calving on growth, mammary developmental changes, and first-lactation milk yield in heifer calves. The advancement in the genetic potential and the nutritional requirements of the animals has hastened the growth rate. Genetic selection for high milk yield has suggested higher growth capacity and hence increasing nutrit...