Abstract
The effects on production of moving a herd of 27 Ayrshire milking cows from one environment to a totally different one, with changed methods of feeding, milking and housing, were studied. Following a pre-change period of 105 days, during which each cow was recorded on alternate days for yield of milk and fat, lactose and protein percentages, the immediate effects of the change, the recovery if any, and permanent changes in production were analyzed over a 19-day period. All traits were affected in mean levels, except protein percentage. Milk yield fell by 2.6 kg (13.0%), fat percentage increased by 0.43 units (10.0%), and lactose percentage fell by 0.23 units (4.8%). Protein percentage was unaltered throughout. Milk yield and lactose percentage did not change after the immediate drop. Fat percentage returned linearly from the initial increase, to expectation at 11 days after the change, and continued to decline for another 8 days. The variances of all the traits were temporarily inflated by factors of 2,5,3 and 3 for milk yield, fat percentage, protein percentage and lactose percentage, respectively. The gradual decline to normal, pre-change variance levels took 7–8 days for compositional traits and 10 days for milk yield. Estimates of these means, variances and coefficients of variation are given.
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