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Some attributes of very high-yielding British Friesian and Holstein dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. D. P. Wood  and
P. N. Wilson
P. D. P. Wood
Affiliation:
Milk Marketing Board, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 0EL
P. N. Wilson
Affiliation:
BOCM Silcock Ltd, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2EQ
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Abstract

In 1979/80, 390 cows of black and white breeds produced more than 750 kg fat plus protein in a 305-day lactation, compared with a mean of 390 kg for all recorded black and white cows. The cows were distributed in 207 herds and were the daughters of 177 sires whose breeding values (with population means in brackets) were +220 kg milk ( + 100), +8 kg fat (+5) and +6 kg protein (+2). The farms on which they were kept were not markedly different from average holdings in England and Wales. Management was characterized by high labour input, with high intakes of diets containing a high energy and protein concentration, and care was taken to ensure that food was on offer at all times. Grassland management tended towards conservation by silage rather than hay. Calving intervals were slightly longer than average (393 days v. 386 days for all recorded cows of a similar age).

The most obvious characteristic of management was the close attention given to ways of persuading the animals to eat enough food to satisfy their nutritional requirements.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , October 1983 , pp. 157 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1983

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References

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