Holstein/Friesian

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Holstein/Friesian

• from Holland via USA• They weigh 680 kg when

mature. • Bred to produce higher

milk and protein yields than any other breed

• Make good use of grass for milk production

• Sensitive to cold wet conditions and need early winter housing

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British Friesian

• Slightly smaller than Holsteins

• Carry more flesh

• Good fertility

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Other Dairy BreedsAyrshire

• Easy calving and longevity

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Brown Swiss

• Longevity• Good feet and legs• Strong and healthy

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Guernsey

• Efficient converter of feed to milk

• Early maturity • Milk is a distinctive

golden colour.• Easy calving

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Jersey

• Milk is high and fat and protein but lower yield than Holstein-Friesian

• Low maintenance cost• Easy calving• High fertility• Longevity• Less prone to lameness

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Milking Shorthorn

• red, red and white, white or roan, a very close mixture of red and white, and found in no other breed of cattle.

• Ease of calving• Good feet • Longevity

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Montbéliarde

• Light red and white, white head

• Dual purpose

• Hardy

• Resistance to mastitis

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Norwegian Red

• Calving ease • High fertility • High fat and protein

milk • Higher Mastitis

resistance • Choice of Polled or

Horned • Hardy hooves

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Normande

• Dual purpose• Good growth rate in calves • Ideal for dairy

crossbreeding • Fertility • Calving ease • Strength • High percentage yield at

slaughter

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Jersey X Holstein cross

• Smaller, lighter and darker in colour than Holstein

• Lower milk volume

• Higher milk solids

• Efficient converter of grass

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Age (yr) Lactation no. Lactation yield as % of maximum

2 1 75

3 2 85

4 3 90

5 4 95

6 5 100

Cows produce first calf at 2 years.Reach maximum yield at their fifth lactation

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Breeds of cattle – contrast in milk composition (%)

Breed Milk (kg) Fat (kg) Protein (kg) % fat

Jersey 4797 243 180 5.06

Holstein/Freisian

6970 264 234 3.79

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Lactating

• When lactating a cow can be either pregnant or non-pregnant.

• When dry pregnant.

• Try to get the cow to complete the cycle in one year.

• The length of the cycle depends on how long it takes for her to get pregnant again.

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1 year calving interval

• 305 days of lactation• 60 days of a dry period• Cow carries calf for 9 ½ months (283-286 days)

• 365 – 286 = 82 days

• Need to be mated 82 days after calving

• If it goes over 82 days, it will go over the 1 year cycle.

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0 weeks:calving

Early lactation

Dry period

Late lactation

Mid lactation

These changes are due to changes in activities and changes in the number of cells in the mammary glands

Milk yield

Lactation curve of a machine milked cow

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Milking machine versus cow with calf

• Yield is in response to a challenge• More milk asked for more milk will be provided

Milk machine

Cow with calf

Time (months)

Milk yields/day (Kg)

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Factors influencing milk yield

• Breed, weight at calving

• Age

• Frequency of milking

• Dry period

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Factors influencing milk composition

• Breed• Feed

– Good grass increases milk, fat and protein

– Fibre needed for fat production

• Stage of lactation• Milking interval

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Feeding for milk quality

• High fibre feed increases butterfat content

• Leafy grass increases protein

• Good quality feed

• Control mastitis

Grass Budgeting

• A grass budget aims to balance the grass supply with the grass requirement or "herd demand".

• Measure grass cover

• Estimate DM cover and grazing requirement

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Estimating Grass Cover

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Grass Budgeting

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Grass budgeting

• Example– A farmer has 50 cows grazing on a 0.5 ha

paddock. Each cow consumes 15 kg DM/day. How long can the cows be left in the paddock to graze it completely? (i.e. a stubble height of 4 cm).

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• Mass of grass removed from a 0.25 m2 quadrat = 200 g• DM = 18%• 200 g x 0.18 = 36 g DM or 0.036 kg DM/0.25 m2

• 0.036 kg DM x 4 = 0.144 kg DM/m2

• 0.5 ha = 5000 m2

• 0.144 kg DM x 5000 = 720 kg DM/0.5 ha• 720/50 = 14.4 kg DM/cow• At 15 kg DM intake/day, (14.4/15) x (100/1) = 96% of

their daily intake• 24 hours x 0.96 = 23.04 hours

• 23 hours grazing left

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Milk Quality Standards

2. Somatic Cell Count (SCC):– Count of white blood cells– High SCC indicates presence of sub clinical

mastitis– SCC must mot exceed 400,000 on a three

month geometric mean

http://www.fsai.ie/uploadedFiles/Reg853_2004(1).pdf

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3. Thermoduric Test:– Number of thermo-resistant bacteria must

not be > 1000/ml

4. Milk temperature:– Milk only collected from refrigerated tanks

and be < 6°C

5. Antibiotic test– Routine test for the presence of antibiotics


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6. Excess water:

7. Sediment test:– Milk must be free from physical particles and

sediment– Cow’s udders and teats must be clean at

milking time and milk filtered

– Biosecurity for diseased animals


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The Milking Machine• Extracts milk from the cow by vacuum. • Apply constant vacuum to the end of the teat to suck the milk

out, convey it to a suitable container, to give a periodic squeeze applied externally to the whole of the teat to maintain blood circulation.

• A milking machine installation consists of a pipework system linking various vessels and other components which together provide the flow paths for air and milk.

• The forces are maintained by a vacuum. • Atmospheric pressure forces air, and intra-mammary milk

pressure which forces milk, into the system and the combination of these forces causes flow.

• continuous operation

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Cluster

• Part of the machine which is attached to the cow

• Claw piece and four teat cups

• Connected to the bucket, milk cup or recorder jar via a milk tube

• Can be removed automatically

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Herringbone Parlours

• Cows stand in echelon formation at 30°–35° to the operator's pit with no division between cows.

• Distance between udders is reduced to 0.9 m.

• Operator has control over cow entry/exit

• Cows enter and leave in batches. Suitable for herds of 50–400 cows

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Side by Side

• Modification of the herringbone.

• Cows stand at right angles to the operator's pit, so that 3 cows occupy the length required for 2 in the herringbone.

• Cows must be milked through the back legs.

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Rotary Tandem

• Most expensive per cow place in terms of cost and space requirement. Cows stand nose-to-tail in stalls circling the operators work area. Operator cannot assist cow entry but can see all cows easily during rotation.

• 250 cows plus

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Annual Cycle in Dairying

• Day 0 Cow calves - begins to lactate• Lactation 305 days• Dry period 60 days

• Ideally 365d calving interval- but more often closer to 400 days

• As with suckler cow if to have 365d calving interval need to conceive 80-86 days post calving as gestation length is on average 278-283 days

• Aim to serve cow 56 days post calving

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Planning

1. Plan calving dates (includes both cows and heifers)

• Herd with mean calving date c. Feb 15th (first cow calving c. Jan 20th) has highest potential profits-– Higher milk yield– Increased grass consumption and reduced silage

consumption when compared to herd calving in April- reduced costs

• Mean calving date in Ireland is March 16th

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Requirements for Replacements in Dairy herd

• 17% rate of replacements ideal– i.e. 17 cows culled from 100 cow herd every year with

17 new heifers required

• Average replacement rate in Ireland is 27%

–

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Replacement Heifers:Age at Service and First Calving

• At first service heifers should weigh approx. 2/3rds of final mature weight = 400kgs– c. 15 months– Calving at c. 24 months– dystocia if calving before 22 months– Fit in with calving pattern of herd

• Choice of bull – Usually use breed Aberdeen Angus or Hereford- less

calving problems than Friesian– Variation within breeds- ‘Easy calving bull’

• BCS 3- 3.5 6-8 weeks pre calving

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Diseases of Dairy (and Suckler) Cows

• Brucellosis

• Mastitis

• Milk Fever

• Ruminoacidosis and Ketosis

• Grass staggers

• Lameness - Foot Problems

• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

• Johnes Disease

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Brucellosis

• ZOONOSIS - undulant fever in humans• HIGHLY INFECTIOUS• Caused by bacterium Brucella abortis• Causes abortion –usually 5-7th month of

pregnancy• Non-pregnant animals can act as carriers

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Brucellosis

• All breeding cattle (cows and bulls) in Ireland must be tested for brucellosis - blood test– All females over 1 year– All bulls over 2 years old– After 30 days movement test required

• Animals that are found positive for brucellosis are slaughtered

• Treatment of affected animals is not appropriate

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Mastitis• Bacterial disease of the udder• Infection gains access to gland via

teat1. Dirty housing conditions (pre and

post calving) 2. Poor hygiene during milking3. Damage to teat sphincter due to

inconsistent/ excessive vacuum in milking machine

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Mastitis

• Only 1% of cases are noninfectious• Bad hygiene, flies, teat lesions etc. can increase

suceptibility

• Up to 20 bacteria responsible for mastitis in cows• Including:

– E.coli– Streptococcus– Staphlococcus– Pseudomonas

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Mastitis

• 2 forms:– Clinical – signs and symptoms of disease

observed- fever, visible alteration in milk etc.

– Subclinical – alteration in milk- increased cell counts and bacteria present

• Usually chronic infections

• Eg. Staphlococcus aureus

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Swollen, gangrenous udder of ewe with mastitis.

Top of a strip cup showing clots and serous milk from a cow with acute mastitis.

Brown Swiss heifer with swollen rear gland with mastitis

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Mastitis: Treatment

• Clinical mastitis is treated with intramammary antibiotics

• Milk from treated cows must be discarded/ fed to calves– Penalties for selling milk contaminated with

antibiotics

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Milk Fever (parturient hypocalcaemia)

• Misnomer! No fever- reduced temperature usually!

• Metabolic disorder – Subnormal levels of blood calcium– Sudden production of large volumes of milk (rich in

calcium)– Blood calcium levels fall and body stores of calcium

(in bones) cannot make up shortfall fast enough

•

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Milk fever cont.

• Milk fever usually seen at time of calving up to 10 days post calving (most commonly 24-48 hrs post calving)

• High yielding cows usually in 3rd or 4th lactation at greatest risk

• Genetic link?– Jerseys > friesians

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Milk fever: Treatment

• Urgent treatment required– Monitor recently calved cows

• Sit up to prevent bloat- prop up with bales etc.• Warm bedding and shelter if possible• Inject warmed Calcium borogluconate under

skin– Other minerals (Mg and Phosphorus) often also

deficient -combined mineral solution usually administered

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Milk fever: Treatment

• Staggering cows should recover in 1 to 2 hours post treatment

• Vet consulted if ‘down’ and/or no response in 2 hours

• Remove calf/ do not milk (or only partially milk) for at least 48 hours

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Ruminoacidosis

• Overfeeding concentrate ration-– disturb ruminal function and normal microbial flora

• Results in very high levels of lactic acid and low pH in rumen

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Ketosis

• Like pregnancy toxaemia in ewe

• Metabolic condition

• Usually in peak lactation

• Energy imbalance

• High demand for glucose- appetite/ intake cannot provide enough for high yielding dairy cow

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Ketosis

• Number of effects in body of this energy imbalance

– Gluconeogenesis- production of ketone bodies- acidic

– Breakdown of body fat reserves- fat may be incompletely oxidised (due to low availability of glucose) and may lead to fat deposition in liver- fatty liver

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Grass Staggers (‘Tetany’)

• Metabolic disorder due to subnormal blood levels of magnesium– Hypomagnesaemia– Beef cattle, calves as well as both dairy

and suckler cows

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Grass Staggers (‘Tetany’)Predisposing conditions

• Can occur at any time of year when Mg in diet is low

• Most common occurrence of ACUTE disease- when cows turned out to lush, heavily fertilized grass– Such grass is often deficient in Mg

• Can be aggravated by recent calving or cold weather

• Soil type can predispose

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Grass Staggers (‘Tetany’)Symptoms

• Nervousness• Muscle tremors• Twitching eyeballs• Muscle spasms, coma and death can rapidly

follow - i.e. an emergency• Sudden death

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Grass Staggers (‘Tetany’)Prevention and treatment

• Prevention:– Calcined magnesite (MgO) can be added to

diet (60g /head /day) 2-3 weeks before turnout on lush pastures

– Continue to feed or a period after turnout

• Treatment– Prompt Vet attention- intravenous magnesium

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Lameness

• Common problem

• Wear and tear– Long periods on slats– Poor roadways for dairy cows (sharp stones,

uneven surfaces etc.)– Poor conformation

• Bacterial infections can occur

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Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease)

Neurodegenerative Disease of cattle• Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy • Infectious agent is a prion protein• Causes spongy degeneration of brain• Symptoms:• Nervous symptoms in affected cattle- inability to stand and

dementiaControl measures in Ireland and EU• Notifiable • Slaughter policy Nervous tissue from spinal cord removed

from carcase• All animals over 30 months slaughtered must be tested• All casualty animals over 24 months must be tested

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Other Transmissible Spongiform Diseases

• Similar disease in sheep- Scrapie – Fatal, non curable disease of sheep first

noted in 18th century– Nervous symptoms– Itching, lip smacking and hopping gait (see

video clip), progressive ill thrift and wasting– Breeding programme using sheep with

genetic resistance to this disease- sheep blood sampled

• Consumption of infected meat products assoc. with development of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans– different to ‘classical’ CJD– 165 humans have died to date in UK as a

result of vCJD

Sheep with scrapie may scrape hindend and nibble at fleece. Upper image shows sheep with nervoussymptoms and wasting

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Dairy farm cleaning operations

• Milk of low bacterial count (20,000/ ml) requires a relatively consistent high standard of hygiene.

• Good keeping quality to store on farm at 4C for 3 days.• Contamination from improperly cleaned equipment can

raise the bacterial count to more than 100,000 per ml of milk immediately after milking.

• Inferior keeping quality.• Levels of cleanliness depend on :

– Type of cleaning product– Water quality– Method of cleaning– Equipment to be cleaned

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• Detergents are necessary to clean milking and ancillary equipment effectively before disinfection. Effectiveness is increased with solution temperature, concentration and time of application.

Bulk tank iodofor detergent

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Detergents

• Increase the 'wetting' potential over the surfaces to be cleaned,

• Displace milk deposits,

• Dissolve milk protein,

• Emulsify the fat

• Aid the removal of dirt.

Documents

Holstein/Friesian