1. Effect of restricted suckling on milk yield, milk composition and udder health in cows and behaviour and weight gain in calves, in dual-purpose cattle in the tropics.
- Author
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Fröberg S, Aspegren-Güldorff A, Olsson I, Marin B, Berg C, Hernández C, Galina CS, Lidfors L, and Svennersten-Sjaunja K
- Subjects
- Animals, Animals, Suckling, Behavior, Animal physiology, Cattle growth & development, Cell Count, Lactation, Linear Models, Milk chemistry, Milk cytology, Weight Gain, Cattle physiology, Mammary Glands, Animal physiology, Milk metabolism, Milk Ejection physiology, Sucking Behavior physiology
- Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of restricted suckling (RS) in dual-purpose cows and calves compared to artificial rearing (AR). Twelve Holstein-Zebu cows with calves were assigned to each treatment. Cows were milked once daily in the morning with calves present to stimulate milk let-down. RS calves suckled 30 min after milking and 30 min in the afternoon, whereas AR calves were milk-fed from nipple bottles. The daily saleable milk yield was higher in RS than in AR cows (p < 0.01; 7.44 vs 6.50 kg/day), whereas RS cows had lower milk-fat content (p < 0.001). AR cows had higher California Mastitis Test scores (p < 0.001) and lower lactose content (p < 0.001) compared to RS cows, which indicates an improved udder health in RS cows. AR calves displayed more 'cross-suck' during suckling/milk feeding (p < 0.001) and during observations of general behaviour (p < 0.05), and more 'lick and sniff interior' during milking (p < 0.05) and suckling/milk feeding (p < 0.01), compared to RS calves. During observations of general behaviour the RS calves were more often observed to 'walk' (p < 0.01) and 'lick self' (p < 0.05) and less frequently to 'eat concentrate' (p < 0.05) than AR calves. Results support the hypothesis that RS increases milk yield, influences milk composition and improves udder health in cows, and decreases abnormal sucking in calves.
- Published
- 2007
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