Noncoagulation of Milk in Finnish Ayrshire and Holstein-Friesian Cows and Effect of Herds on Milk Coagulation Ability

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to compare milk coagulation ability (MCA) and the prevalence of noncoagulation of milk within the main Finnish dairy breeds, Finnish Ayrshire (FA) and Holstein-Friesian (HOL), as well as to study the herd effect on MCA. Data used in the statistical analyses consisted of individual milk samples of 959 FA, 399 HOL, and 50 crossbred cows from 84 herds. Data were collected before the grazing season in the spring 1999. Milk samples were analyzed for the milk coagulation traits (milk renneting time, R and curd firmness, E(30)) and pH. In addition, information on the 305-d milk production traits from the year 1999, and background information about feeding and management regimes of the herds were obtained. Variance components for the random herd and animal effects were estimated using REML methodology and an animal model. Breed, parity, lactation stage (for R, E(30) and pH only), and a measuring unit (for R and E(30) only) were included as fixed effects in the model. When the effects of concentrate feeding frequency and type of concentrate were studied, the random effect of herd was excluded from the model. A relationship matrix included parents, grandparents, and great grandparents of the cows with observations. The HOL cows were superior to FA cows in MCA when both the proportion of poorly coagulating (PC) and noncoagulating (NC) milk, and the differences in curd firmness were considered. About 30% of the FA cows and 12% of the HOL cows produced PC milk. Only 1.3% of the HOL cows and 8.6% of the FA cows produced NC milk. Herd effect explained only a minor part of the variation in MCA (8%) compared with that in 305-d milk production traits (about 43%). Frequent feeding of the concentrate was associated with good MCA as well as for the high milk, protein and fat yields, but it was not associated with the prevalence of the NC milk.

A Comparison of Milk Clotting Characteristics and Quality Traits of Rendena and Holstein-Friesian Cows

“…Regarding the effect of parity on milk clotting ability, the literature reports controversial results. Similar to our study, Tyrisevä et al (2003) and Penasa et al (2014) reported that MCP deteriorated with parity, whereas Ikonen et al (2004) and Tyrisevä et al (2004) found better performance in later-than first-parity cows.…”

Heritability and repeatability of milk coagulation properties predicted by mid-infrared spectroscopy during routine data recording, and their relationships with milk yield and quality traits

“…Average values for MCP and milk composition are worse than those of Cecchinato et al (2009) in Italian Brown Swiss, who reported means of 15.0 min for RCT and 41.7 mm for a 30 evaluated using the computerized renneting meter, and by Bonfatti et al (2011) in Italian Simmental, who reported RCT and a 30 of 16.51 min and 29.08 mm, respectively, using the same mechanical device. Ikonen et al (2004) found 11.80 6 5.50 min for RCT and 24.0 6 13.3 mm for a 30 in Finnish Ayrshire and Tyrisevä et al (2004) reported 11.2 6 5.0 min for RCT and 26.5 6 11.8 mm for a 30 in Finnish Ayrshire, Holstein and crossbred cows. Vallas et al (2010) analyzed log-transformed RCT in Estonian Holstein population and found an average value of 2.3 (CV of 9%) and an average a 30 of 27.0 mm (CV of 27%).…”

“…Besides the aforementioned factors, additive genetic effects seem to influence the occurrence of NC milk (e.g. Ikonen et al, 2004;Tyrisevä et al, 2004). The inclusion of NC information in statistical models aiming at estimating covariance components for MCP may influence the assessment of genetic parameters for coagulation traits (Ikonen et al, 2004), but the impact depends mainly on the proportion of NC samples: the lower the proportion, the lower the influence on covariance components.…”

Chromosomal Regions Underlying Noncoagulation of Milk in Finnish Ayrshire Cows

“…About 10% of Fay cows produce noncoagulating milk (Ikonen et al 1999a(Ikonen et al , 2004Tyrisevä et al 2004), and some cows produce it persistently (Tyrisevä et al 2003). This milk does not coagulate at all in a standard 30-min testing time.…”

“…Because a major part of the milk currently produced is used for cheese production (Eurostat 2007), selection of breeding animals for milk coagulation ability is a tempting choice to produce high-quality milk for cheese dairies. The best selection option is still under research (Ikonen 2000;Tyrisevä et al 2003Tyrisevä et al , 2004Ikonen et al 2004;Ojala et al 2005) since due to a lack of high throughput, automated measuring device possibilities for direct selection are limited.…”