Milking characteristics of friesian, jersey, and friesian-jersey crossbreds in eleven new zealand dairy herds

Abstract

Total milking times (TMT) of 2232 Friesian (F), Jersey (J), or crossbred (F-J) cows were studied in 11 herds in the Waikato region. Morning milk weight (AM-MW, kg/cow) or afternoon milk weight (PM-MW, kg/cow) was related to TMT to obtain average flow rate (AFR, kg milk/cow per min). Among 11 herds there was no correlation (r = 0.03) between AM-MW and AM-TMT, nor between AM-AFR and PM-AFR (r = 0). Even though significant correlations were determined between AM-AFR and AM-MW (r = 0.09) and between AM-AFR and AM-TMT (r =-0.15), there were no significant effects between herds or breeds for AM-AFR. However, PM-AFR was correlated with AM-MW (r = 0.21), PM-MW (r = 0.35), AM-TMT (r =-0.10) and PM-TMT (r =-0.47). In average milk weight per cow per day, both F (14.9 kg) and F-J (14.6 kg) cows outproduced J herdmates (11.2 kg). TMT was 6-8% longer in F and F-J than J, but AFR was 27-36% higher than J cows. Increased TMT in New Zealand herds through the use of F semen is smaller than the associated increase in MW because of higher AFR of F-J than of J. © 1987 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.