The factors affecting milk production of dairy cows in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the factors affected the milk production including milk yield and quality on dairy cow farms in Ho Chi Minh City. The milk data were collected from December 2021 to March 2022 at two farms (Farm A in Binh Chanh district and Farm B in Cu Chi district). Farm A, the data were collected from AfiFarm management software and the quality contents of fatness, solids-not-fat (SNF), protein, and lactose of the milk were analyzed in farm lab. The data of Farm B were filtered from Epacific management software. The milk somatic cell count (SCC) was examined by using Coulter Milk Cell Counter analyzer. The results showed the milk yield was seen differently between Farm A and B (P < 0.01). Farm A’s milk yield average from 121 cows was 20.15 kg/day/cow, and the contents evaluated from 422 milk samples were fatness 3.20%, SNF 8.99%, protein 3.49%, lactose 4.84%, and SCC 285,000 cells/mL. The milk yield and contents were seen differently between months on Farm A (P < 0.01), and found the highest quality in December with 21.10 kg/day, 9.10% SNF, 3.53% protein, 4.90% lactose and SCC lowest at 231,000 cells/mL. However, the milk yield of Farm B was 12.55 kg/day/cow of 220 cows. The results indicated the parity, number of milking udders (3, 4 udders), HF crossbreeding of Lai Sind cows and Holstein-Friezian bulls with F1 (1/2 HF), F2 (3/4 HF), F3 (7/8 HF), period of lactation (0 - 60, 61 - 120, > 120 days of milking) and months of year affected the milk yield on Farm B (P < 0.01). Evaluation of the milk quality from 100 milk samples on Farm B showed SCC was seen differently at 3 levels of milk yield (<10, 10 - 15 and > 15 kg/day/cow) (P < 0.05). The interesting finding was the cows having milk yield less than 10 kg/day correlating the risk of the milk SCC and decreasing the milk quality.