The composition of milk of the friesian cattle imported into Nigeria

Abstract

AbstractHere the results of analyses of milk of Friesian cows imported into the University Teaching and Research Farm from Western Germany are reported. Twenty‐five of the cows were milked from the first day after parturition for a lactation of 305 days (average yield 3000 ± 88kg). The colostrum contained higher percentages of total solids (TS), crude protein (CP), fats and ash but lower lactose than the mature milk. Concentration of major minerals in the colostrum were higher than the corresponding values in the mature milk. The composition of the colostrum approached normal values on the seventh day after parturition. Contents of TS, CP, lactose and fats in milk were highest in the first month of lactation and then decreased with advance in lactation. The trends were highly significant (P<0.01). On the other hand, the concentration of the minerals increased except for potassium which decreased with advance in lactation with the trends being highly significant (P < 0.01). The values obtained for the gross composition of milk (except total ash) were higher than those reported for the Friesian cow's milk in temperate countries.