Determination of milk intake by calf suckling during lactation in Kankrej cows

Abstract

The research work was carried out on Kankrej cattle at Livestock Research Station, S. D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Gujarat. The quantity of milk suckled by the calves was estimated by weigh-suckle-weigh technique (Williams et al ., 1979). Kankrej calves were selected for the present study (for the period of lactation maximum up to 305 days). A total of 741 observations were considered for analysis. The results revealed that overall suckling allowance was 725.9 liters per lactation. The average milk suckled by the calves in a single time was 1.26±0.04, 1.20±0.06, 1.11±0.05, 1.13±0.05, 1.18±0.05, 1.12±0.05, 1.22±0.08, 1.38±0.09, 1.33±0.08, 1.17±0.08 and 1.19 ±0.02 liters during first, second, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten month of age and during lactation, respectively. According to the milk production capacity of dam, milk suckled by the calves per time was 1.21±0.05, 1.20±0.02, 1.13±0.05 liters in the cows producing 0-3, 3-6 and more than 6 liters of milk per time, respectively. Similarly, milk suckled by the calves at one time during early, mid and late lactation was 1.20±0.03, 1.14±0.03 and 1.32±0.05 liters, respectively. While, as per the body weight of the calves (up to 50 kg, 50 to 100 kg and more than 100 kg) the milk suckled was 1.21±0.03, 1.15±0.03 and 1.27±0.05 liters, respectively. The milk suckled by the calves in this study was comparatively higher than other Indian cattle breeds, because of powerful mothering instincts of Kankrej cows which ultimately responsible for the least calf mortality in this breed. From the above study, it is concluded that the average milk suckled by the calves per time is 1.19 ±0.02 litres and total 725.9 liters per lactation which could be added to the milk collected in pail while calculating total lactation yield in Kankrej cattle while comparing the production potential especially with crossbreds.