Relationship of Temperament during Milking with Milking Behavioural Features, Milk Yield and Udder Health of Crossbred Jersey Cows in Tropical Climate

Abstract

Background: Milking behaviour of milch cows has notable impacts on their production efficiency. The present investigation is designed to explore the relationship of temperament while milking with other milking behavioural features, milk yield and udder health in crossbred Jersey cows. Methods: The study was done on crossbred Jersey cows (N=94) kept at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Eastern Regional Station, Kalyani, West Bengal. The cows’ temperament score (TS) was judged on 5 points scale (1-docile, 5-aggressive). Calmer cows (TS-1 and 2) covered relatively higher (75.24%) proportions and no observation had shown for TS-5. Result: The temperament score was positively associated (P less than 0.01) with stepping/milking (0.72), flight speed (0.43) and exit score (0.33), while it was negatively associated (P less than 0.01) with milk yield (-0.64), milking duration (-0.61) and milk flow rate (-0.65). It was concluded from the above study that milking behavioural features are directly correlated with each other and production parameters. Dairy animals of calmer temperament were significantly high-yielders. The temperament of dairy animals did not significantly impact udder health as assessed through MCMT and somatic cell counts in milk.