Feed Efficiency of Dairy Cows During First Lactation

Lee, A. J.; Sliger, L. A.; Lin, C. Y.; McAllister, A.J.; Batra, T. R.; Roy, Gaétan; Vesely, J. A.; Wauthy, Jacques; Winter, K. A.

doi:10.4141/cjas89-101

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Lactation. Implications of the Dutch study (VanElzakker and VanArendonk, 1993;VanArendonk et al, 1991) are very similar to those of the Canadian study (Lee et al, 1989;. Results are summarized in Tables 1 and 3.…”

Section: Cow Traitsupporting

confidence: 55%

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The interplay of feeding and genetics on heifer rearing and first lactation milk yield: a review.

Lee

1997

Journal of Animal Science

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Weight gain of young dairy replacement heifers, even over several months, is highly variable, lowly heritable, and a poor indicator of either weight at calving or first lactation milk yield. Voluntary forage consumption is much less variable, more heritable, and a better predictor of weight at calving and milk yield. Weight at calving is highly heritable but not correlated genetically with milk yield. Heavier weight at first calving due to feeding and management does increase milk yield. When grain is fed according to milk yield, weight loss during the first month or two after calving and milk yield are under strong genetic control and tightly genetically correlated to each other and to energy intake. The feed to milk ratio is managementally determined. Better-grown heifers eat more forage and can tolerate more grain consumption without digestive or metabolic disorders. Good body condition at calving seems essential for high milk yield. Genetic ability to mobilize body condition to increase milk yield justifies more grain and results in greater total efficiency up to the point of causing digestive disorders. Good heifer rearing is essential to high milk yield and feed efficiency. Realizing genetic potential for high yield demands excellence of feeding and management during lactation.

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Section: Cow Traitsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…General. Comparisons across breeds or strains of cattle (Oldenbroek, 1988;Lee et al, 1989;McAllister et al, 1994) provide very similar results. Oldenbroek (1988) writes: "Biological and economic efficiency can be improved by a higher milk yield.…”

Section: Growth and Lactationmentioning

confidence: 77%

The interplay of feeding and genetics on heifer rearing and first lactation milk yield: a review.

Lee

1997

Journal of Animal Science

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“…Results for the DMI of pure Holstein cows in this study are similar to those reported by Rastani et al (2001) and Britt et al (2003), who found that pure Hol-steins consumed 22 to 23 kg of DMI daily in early lactation. Lee et al (1989) reported some heterosis for total digestible nutrients consumed for crossbred Ayrshire and Holstein cows compared with pure Holstein cows. Table 5 shows least squares means, standard errors of means, and standard deviations of J×H and pure Holstein cows for total DMI (as opposed to weekly DMI), FE FP , and FE EN from the 4th to 150th day postpartum.…”

Section: Dmi and Fementioning

confidence: 99%

Crossbreds of Jersey × Holstein Compared with Pure Holsteins for Body Weight, Body Condition Score, Dry Matter Intake, and Feed Efficiency During the First One Hundred Fifty Days of First Lactation

Heins

Hansen

Seykora

et al. 2008

Journal of Dairy Science

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Jersey x Holstein crossbred (JxH) cows (n = 24) were compared with pure Holstein cows (n = 17) for body weight, body condition score, dry matter intake (DMI), and feed efficiency during the first 150 d of first lactation. Cows were housed in the University of Minnesota dairy facility at the St. Paul campus and calved from September 2004 to January 2005. The JxH cows were mated by artificial insemination with Montbeliarde bulls, and Holstein cows were mated by artificial insemination with Holstein bulls. Cows were weighed and body condition was scored every other week. Cows were individually fed a TMR twice daily, and feed refusals were measured once daily. The DMI of cows was measured daily and averaged across 7-d periods. Milk production and milk composition were from monthly Dairy Herd Improvement records. Best Prediction was used to calculate actual production (milk, fat, protein) for each cow from the 4th to 150th day of first lactation. The JxH cows had significantly less body weight (467 vs. 500 kg) and significantly higher body condition scores (2.90 vs. 2.76) than pure Holstein cows. The JxH cows had significantly less milk production (4,388 vs. 4,644 kg) during the 4th to 150th day of lactation than did pure Holstein cows. However, fat plus protein production during the first 150 d of lactation was not significantly different for JxH (302 kg) and Holstein (309 kg) cows. The JxH and pure Holstein cows did not differ significantly for daily DMI (22.0 vs. 22.7 kg, respectively), and the JxH (4.7%) and pure Holstein (4.5%) cows consumed similar DMI based on percentage of body weight. Consequently, feed efficiency for the 4th to 150th day of lactation did not differ for JxH and pure Holstein cows.

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Genetic parameters for body weight and growth in Dutch Black and White replacement stock

Groen¹,

Vos²

1995

Livestock Production Science

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Feed Efficiency of Dairy Cows During First Lactation

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

The interplay of feeding and genetics on heifer rearing and first lactation milk yield: a review.

The interplay of feeding and genetics on heifer rearing and first lactation milk yield: a review.

Crossbreds of Jersey × Holstein Compared with Pure Holsteins for Body Weight, Body Condition Score, Dry Matter Intake, and Feed Efficiency During the First One Hundred Fifty Days of First Lactation

Genetic parameters for body weight and growth in Dutch Black and White replacement stock

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