Relationships between some fertility and milk production characteristics in Holstein Friesian cattle

The aim of this study was to analyze the association between the β-CN CSN2 gene polymorphism, energy, enzymatic, and nitrogenous metabolites, and production, composition (fat, protein, lactose, total solids, nonfat solids), and SCC in the milk of Holstein cows submitted to the same nutritional and environmental conditions. Eighteen cows (6 A1A1 genotype, 6 A1A2 genotype, and 6 A2A2 genotype) were selected and matched for parity, calving season, and days in lactation. For the statistical analysis, a fixed linear model was applied in which genotypes were considered as a fixed effect and the dependent variables included metabolites, milk production, milk composition, and SCC. We found no statistically significant differences associating the genotype for the β-CN CSN2 gene with milk production and composition characteristics or with energy, enzymatic, and nitrogen metabolites of blood and milk, except for variable glucose concentration (mg/dL), in which only the A2A2 genotype presented the highest means (67.78a) in relation to the other genotypes A1A1 (58.28b) and A1A2 (55.69b), where the letter a corresponds to the value of the highest mean and the letter b corresponds to the value of the lowest mean. Under the conditions in which the experiment was developed, the highest averages were numerically observed for variables milk production (kg/d), milk composition and yield (%), and urea nitrogen concentration (%) in the blood, milk, and urine of cows carrying the heterozygous genotype (A1A2) compared with both homozygous genotypes (A1A1 and A2A2), and we found that polymorphism of A1 and A2 alleles does not alter milk composition or blood and urinary metabolites.

The study was conducted at the Taj Al-Nahrain cattle station in Al-Diwaniyah Governorate, which is 200 km from the center of Dhi Qar Governorate. For the period from 10/15/2021 to 10/3/2022, 49 Holstein cows imported from Germany were used in this experiment, all in the third production cycle. And the laboratory part of the study was conducted in the laboratory of the Marsh Research Center \ Dhi Qar University for the purpose of separating the genetic material from cow blood samples and conducting genetic analysis on it and extracting the possible genotypes HSPA6 heat shock protein gene. The animals in the station were fed according to the season and the year in terms of the availability of fodder and the percentage of costs involved in raising the cows, as well as on the general state of the productivity of the cows, but in general they are provided with green fodder, which includes jet, barley, corn stalks and a percentage of each of the dry fodder (hay and hay). ) and concentrate (barley, bran and cake) according to what is available from them, as well as limestone and table salt. Data on milk production were collected from the station records, where the milk production was recorded weekly for the morning and evening fenugreek by the station, and the milk components were analyzed in the Abu Dairy Company Gharib / Research and Development Division by Milk Analyzer. 3 ml of blood was collected from the udder vein of each cow by 5 ml medical syringes, suitable for the size of the animal’s vein, and placed in collection tubes containing an anticoagulant substance (K2 EDTA) and transported in a cooler box for safekeeping Freezing at -18°C until extraction time.
 From the results obtained from this study, we can conclude that the mutation detected in the studied segment of the 6HSPA gene was a type of missense mutation and worked to change the code of the amino acid valine to the code of the amino acid leucine. Three genotypes were shown: GG, GT, and TT. It was found that there was a clear commonality of cows carrying the GG genotype with a rate of 88%, followed by the GT genotype with 8%, while the TT genotype got the lowest percentage and amounted to 4%, and with allelic recurrence Its value is 0.92 for the G allele and 0.08 for the T . allele
 Groups of cows carrying the genotypes (GG, GT and TT) did not differ significantly among themselves in the characteristics of milk production and its components, but an arithmetic superiority between the three genotypes was observed and referred to in all the studied traits.

The effect of dairy cow breed on milk production, cow traffic and milking characteristics in a pasture-based automatic milking system

The research was conducted at the Taj Al-Nahrain cattle station in Al-Diwaniyah governorate in Iraq on a sample of 85 Holstein cows imported from Germany, which were selected during the third season of milk production, in order to determine the genotypes of the PIT-1 gene and its relationship to a number of production traits. The PCR product (451bp) of the PIT-1 gene was digested using the Hinf1 restriction enzyme, and the digestion results showed that the studied genetic segment of the POU1F1 gene appeared in three genotypes (AA, AB, and BB) with percentages of 55.3, 42.6, 2.1%, respectively, and there were highly significant differences (P≤0.01) between the distribution of these percentages, and the A allele (0.766) was superior to the B allele (0.234). The results of the analysis of variance showed that the effect of the genotype of the POU1F1 gene on the characteristics of milk production (daily milk production, total milk production, peak production) was not significant except in the characteristic of peak milk production in favor of the BB genotype at a rate of 538.50 kg on each of the genotypes AA and AB while the results did not show a significant effect between the genotypes (AA, AB, BB) in both the daily milk production rate and the total milk production. It was found that the effect of the POU1F1 gene on body dimension traits (body length, frontal body height, posterior body height) was significant (P≤0.05) in body length in favor of the BB genotype (164 cm) on each of the genotypes AA and AB, at 157,780. and 156,347 cm, respectively, while there were no significant differences between the genotypes in the anterior height and posterior height of the body.

Holstein and Jersey cows, as excellent dairy breeds, have their own advantages in milk yield, milk quality, disease resistance, and heat resistance. However, the adaptability and rumen microbiome changes in Holstein and Jersey cows under heat stress are not clear. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to compare the differences in heat tolerance and the changes in the ruminal microbiome in Holstein and Jersey cows under heat stress. The experiment comprised a 7-day thermo-neutral (TN) period and a 7-day heat stress (HS) period. Five Jersey cows and five Holstein cows with similar parity and days in milk were selected, and rumen fluid was collected from five of them each. Compared with the TN period, heat stress increased the respiratory rate (p < 0.05), whereas decreased the milk yield (p < 0.01) in the Holstein and Jersey cows. Also, heat stress increased the rectal temperature (p < 0.01) in the Holstein cows. Jersey cows had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower level of acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, and TVFA during HS compared with the TN period. Furthermore, high-throughput sequencing revealed that the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Prevotella increased while the relative abundance of Firmicutes decreased in Holstein cows during the HS period, whereas Christensenellaceae and Clostridium were more abundant in Jersey cows during the HS period than in the TN period. Simultaneously, the dominant fungi in Holstein cows were Ascomycota, Neocallimastigomycota, and Aspergillus. Correlation analysis also provided a link between the significantly altered rumen microbiota and animal production. These results suggest that heat stress has negatively influenced the physiological parameters, milk production, and rumen microbiota of Holstein and Jersey cows. Changes in the rumen fermentation and ruminal microbiome in Holstein cows may be associated with a better adaptation ability to heat stress. Our findings may inform future research to better understand how heat stress affects the physiology and productivity of dairy cattle breeding in southern China and the development of mitigation strategies.

Atasever, S. and Erdem, H. 2009. Relationship between hygienic aspects and milk production characteristics of Holstein cows. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 35: 185–188. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between hygienic aspects and milk production characteristics in Holstein cows raised at the Black Sea region of Turkey. With 28 d intervals, hygiene status of udder and rear legs (UHS and HLS) were scored from cows presented in 70+14, 140±14 and 210±14 d in milk into 4 seasons. Hygienic aspects of lactating cows were assessed by a 1–5 scale where higher points indicated the cleaner ones. It was determined that hygiene scores reduced at both winter and spring seasons and also at earlier and later periods of lactation. Except for daily milk yield (dMY), all milk production characteristics (MPC) values were (P<0.01 and P<0.001) correlated with UHS and LHS. Thus, close relationships between MPC and hygienic status of cows clearly indicated that managemental factors related to cow cleanness in dairy farms play an important role to obtain higher milk especially at hot or rainy seasons and at the beginning or later lactation stages.

Increasing the population and productivity of dairy cows is one of the way to boost national milk production capacity. This study was aimed to determine and investigate the performance of milk production and reproduction of Friesian Holstein (FH) dairy cows in the Working Area of KPBS Pangalengan, Bandung Regency. This research used FH dairy cows with a complete milk production and reproduction record. In total, there were 90 heads of cows in the Pangalengan District and 178 heads of cows in the Kertasari District. This study used the survey method to collect the data. A Multistage Random Sampling Method was used in this research. Sampling was carried out in two stages, the first stage was sampling from two sub-district locations in Pangalengan and Kertasari Districts. In the second stage, two villages were selected from each district: Pangalengan and Margamukti Villages in Pangalengan District, and Santosa and Tarumajaya Villages in Kertasari District. Farmers and their cows were chosen by simple random sampling. Data on milk production and reproduction records were obtained from farmers and their cows through direct observation and interviews related to the identity of the cattle they owned. The results showed that the average performance of the milk production characteristics of FH dairy cows was: an average milk production of 3779.2±497.48 liters/head/day, an average length of lactation of 307.8±31.30 days, and an average dry period of 72.14±21.43 days. The lactation period had a significant effect (P&amp;lt;0.05) on milk production. The peak of milk production was reached in the fourth lactation period. The mean of reproductive traits consisting of the first postpartum mating was 77±20.5 days, the average length of days open was 96±26.4 days, the average number of services per conception was 1.8±0.85 times, and the average calving interval was 381.05± 24.5 days. In conclusion, FH dairy cows raised in Pangalengan and Margamukti Villages, Pangalengan District, Santosa and Tarumajaya Village, Kertasari District, in the working area of Pangalengan KPBS during the Covid-19 pandemic indicated a fairly good performance of milk production and reproduction characteristics.

320 pp. £49.95 (Hard) Albright J.L. Arave C.W. The Behaviour of Cattle 1997 CAB International Wallingford 0 85199 196 3

Fertility and milk production on commercial dairy farms with customized lactation lengths

The article presents the productive and reproductive qualities analysis that characterize the adaptive ability to the conditions of a large industrial complex for the milk production and intensive technology of Holstein and Brown Swiss cows’ usage. To achieve this aim was made an analysis of the productive qualities’ implementation of Holstein and Brown Swiss cows on industrial complexes of milk production. Using the balanced group method, two groups of cows were formed in each by following structure: first-calf heifers – 44%, cows of the second and third lactations – 28% each. The first group was formed from Holstein cows (I, n = 125), and the second group was formed Brown Swiss cows (II, n = 125). It was found that under the industrial milk production, the cows’ lactation period in both Holstein and Brown Swiss breeds is elongated – by 1.23 and 1.16 times higher than normal, respectively. While lactation in Brown Swiss cows averages 355.1 days, it is still 5.29% shorter than in Holstein cattle (P &lt; 0.001), in which it is approximately 373.9 days. It was proved that Holstein cows during their lactation period produced averaged 8839.1 kg of 4% milk, which was inferior to the physical mass by 3.69%. An average of 10 344.5 kg of 4% milk was obtained from Brown Swiss cows for complete lactation, which is 0.4% higher than the physical mass. Namely, if in the Holstein cows the total weight of 4% milk was less than the physical mass, then in Brown Swiss cows, on the contrary, it was higher. At the same time, the level of dairy productivity of Brown Swiss cattle is higher than that of Holstein cows by 14.55% (P &lt; 0.001). It was revealed that the milk quality indicators depending on the animals’ breed. The mass fraction of fat in milk of Holstein cows was on average 3.80%, and in Brown Swiss – on average 4.0 3%, which is 0.23% more in absolute terms (P &lt; 0.001). Animals of two breeds differ significantly in terms of protein content. In Holstein, the mass fraction of protein in milk averaged by 3.25%, while in Brown Swiss this indicator was higher in absolute terms by 0.48% (P &lt; 0.001) and averaged by 3.75%. It is proved, that animals of two breeds had satisfactory reproductive function indicators. In cows of Brown Swiss breed the insemination index averaged by 3.54 units. In Holstein cows, this indicator was at the level of 5.9 units, which is higher than in Brown Swiss by 40.0% (P &lt; 0.001). In Brown Swiss cows, calving-to-conception interval was 140.7 days. At the same time, this indicator in Holstein cows averaged by 202.9 days, which exceeded the Brown Swiss value by 30.66%(P &lt; 0.001). It was found that in the Brown Swiss cows, the infertility period, although long, did not exceed an average of 98.7 days, whereas in Holstein it was at the level of 131.9 days, which is 25.17% more (P &lt; 0.001). In Brown Swiss cattle, 0.35 of calves was not received per animal, and in Holstein cows, this indicator was 23.91% higher (P &lt; 0.001) and averaged by 0.46 calves. It was determined, that the adaptation index for Holstein cows was at the level of 2.55 units. At the same time, in Brown Swiss cows this indicator was higher by 29.2% and averaged by 3.60 units. Thus, in animals of two breeds, there was only a slight imbalance between their body and the environment of exploitation.

The study was conducted at the Taj Al-Nahrain cattle station in Al-Diwaniyah Governorate, which is 200 km from the center of Dhi Qar Governorate. For the period from 10/15/2021 to 10/3/2022, 49 Holstein cows imported from Germany were used in this experiment, all in the third production cycle. And the laboratory part of the study was conducted in the laboratory of the Marsh Research Center \ Dhi Qar University for the purpose of separating the genetic material from cow blood samples and conducting genetic analysis on it and extracting the possible genotypes HSPA6 heat shock protein gene. The animals in the station were fed according to the season and the year in terms of the availability of fodder and the percentage of costs involved in raising the cows, as well as on the general state of the productivity of the cows, but in general they are provided with green fodder, which includes jet, barley, corn stalks and a percentage of each of the dry fodder (hay and hay). ) and concentrate (barley, bran and cake) according to what is available from them, as well as limestone and table salt.

We evaluated the effects of heat stress on physiological responses and milk production in Holstein and Jersey cows reared in Korea. The mean average temperature-humidity index (THI) increased significantly from May to August and then decreased until October. The mean average rectal temperature (RT) was increased in Holstein cows compared with Jersey cows, as the THI values increased from 61 to 85. The average respiratory rate (RR) was increased in Jersey cows compared with Holstein cows when the THI value increased from 61 to 85. The average surface temperature of the rumen and udder was higher in Jersey cows than in Holstein cows when the THI value increased from 61 to 85. No significant difference was noted with respect to relative serum volumes between the breeds and THI ranges, but we measured significant changes in serum pH in Holstein and Jersey cows when the THI value increased from 61 to 85. Milk production was not significantly changed in Holstein cows when the THI increased from 61 to 85, but milk production and milk protein content were significantly altered in Jersey cows when the THI increased from 61 to 85. Current study suggests that Holstein cows still have an advantage in terms of the economic returns of dairy farms in Korea. Therefore, further research is required regarding the heat tolerance of Jersey cows in Korean climatic conditions.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of sward system and dairy cow breed on enteric methane emissions from spring-calving grazing dairy cows using GreenFeed technology (C-lock Inc.). The study comprised 3 sward systems: a perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) monoculture receiving 250 kg N/ha per year (PRG), a perennial ryegrass white clover (Trifolium repens L.) sward receiving 125 kg N/ha per year (PRGWC), and a multispecies sward sown with grasses, legumes and herbs receiving 125 kg N/ha/yr (MSS). Each sward system had its own herd of dairy cows on a total area of 18.7 ha divided into 20 paddocks. Each herd comprised Holstein-Friesian (HF) purebred and HF × Jersey crossbred (JFX) animals which were divided equally across each sward system. Milk production and methane emissions were measured from mid-May to mid-October, and DMI and rumen characteristics were measured in late-July and early-October (165 and 228 DIM, respectively). Milk solids (milk fat + protein; MSo) was greatest for cows grazing MSS due to an associated increase in DMI. The greatest average daily methane output across the study was observed for cows grazing PRGWC (311 g/d) while those grazing PRG and MSS were similar (294 and 297 g/d, respectively). Methane intensity (g methane/kg MSo) was reduced for the MSS cows compared with both the PRG and PRGWC cows (208, 217, and 219 g/kg MSo respectively). The lowest methane yield (methane per kg of DMI) was also observed for the MSS cows (15.5 g/kg), whereas there was no difference between the PRG and PRGWC cows (17.6 and 17.7 g/kg, respectively). Greater VFA concentrations were observed for both the MSS and PRG cows compared with the PRGWC cows, whereas the MSS cows had a greater butyrate proportion compared with the cows grazing both other sward systems. Breed also had a significant effect on both milk and methane production characteristics with JFX animals having increased fat and protein concentration and increased MSo production compared with HF. The JFX cows also had reduced BW. Breed had no effect on DMI or methane yield, but JFX also had improved feed efficiency, both per kilogram of DMI and per kilogram BW. The HF cows had an increased methane intensity (223 g/kg MSo) compared with JFX (207 g/kg MSo). Rumen ammonia concentration and acetate-to-propionate ratio were increased for JFX, whereas VFA propionate proportion was decreased, and butyrate proportions were increased compared with HF. The results of this study highlight the potential for more diverse swards and Holstein-Friesian × Jersey crossbreeding to reduce enteric methane emission intensity within pasture-based dairy systems.

The cow’s milk production characteristics are a significant economic indicator in the livestock industry. Serum cytokines such as interleukin-17 (IL-17) may be potential indicators for bovine mastitis concerning the milk somatic cell count (SCC) and somatic cell score (SCS). The current study aims to find previously undiscovered single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bovine (IL-17A) gene and further investigates their associations with milk production traits in Chinese Holstein cows. Twenty Chinese Holstein cows were randomly chosen from six farms in Jiangsu Province, China. The DNA was extracted from selected samples of bloods for PCR amplification Sequence analyses were used to find SNPs in the bovine (IL-17A) gene. The discovered five SNPs are g-1578A>G, g-1835G>A, and g-398T>A in the 5′UTR; g3164T>C and g3409G>C in the exon region. The genotyping of Holstein cows (n = 992) was performed based on Sequenom Mass ARRAY and SNP data. The connection between SNPs, milk production variables, and the somatic cell score was investigated using the least-squares method. Based on the results, SNP g-398T>A had a significant linkage disequilibrium with g3164T>C. SNPs were found to have significant (p < 0.05) correlations with the test-day milk yield. In conclusion, IL-17A affects cow’s milk production traits significantly.

This study was carried out to determine the association between milk production characteristics at the start of lactation (the first three month of lactation) and the performance of reproduction within dairy cows of Algeria. Data were collected from Holstein cows (n=920) that calved between October 2017 and October 2019. Reproductive parameters included in the study were: calving to first-service interval (CFSI, days), calving to conception interval (CCI, days), services per conception (SPC), and conception rate at first-service (CRFS %). Milk parameters such as peak milk yield, cumulative milk yield in the first 30 days (Milk30), 60 days (Milk60) and 100 days (Milk100) postpartum of the cows. The milk composition traits analyzed were milk fat concentration (MF %) and milk protein concentration (MP %). These variables were used to calculate fat to protein ratio (FPR) for each stage of lactation (stage 1: 15–30 days, stage 2: 45–60 days and stage 3: 75–90 days postpartum). Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to determine the correlation between reproductive parameters and milk production variables.The obtained results showed that peak milk yield, cumulative milk yield in the first 60 days (Milk60) and 100 days (Milk100) were significantly and positively (P&lt;0.05) correlated with all the measured fertility parameters. Furthermore, fat to protein ratio (FPR) and milk fat content correlated significantly and negatively (P&lt;0.05) with CFSI, CCI and SPC in the first two stages. The correlation between milk protein content with CFSI, CCI and SPC were negative and significant in the all three stages. Further research is required to identify the cause of this association.