Relation of milk yield and time of milking on the temperament and milk let-down characteristics of Bulgarian Murrah buffalo

Abstract

A total of sixty Bulgarian Murrah buffalo cows were observed of their activities prior, during and after milking to determine the relation of milk yield and time of milking on the temperament and milk let-down characteristics of the animals. The cows were classified into two groups based on their milk yield, namely: Group 1 (G1) for animals with average daily milk yield of 5 kg and above and Group 2 (G2) for animals with a daily milk yield of less than 5 kg. All the cows were milked twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon using milking machine. Results of the study showed that the temperament of the cows prior to milking, during milking, and after milking were not affected by their milk yield capacity. The time of milking also showed no significant effect on the temperament of cows prior and after milking. However, the animals milked in the afternoon were significantly (P<0.01) less restless than the animals milked in the morning. The rate of milk let-down was not significantly affected by the milk yield of animals (11.84 and 13.44 sec for G1 and G2, respectively) and the time of milking (8.54 sec in the morning and 16.74 sec in the afternoon). On the other hand, the rate of milk flow in the G1 group (7.28 mg/sec) was significantly greater (P<0.01) than the G2 group (4.24 mg/sec). The rate of milk flow for the animals milked in the morning (7.28 mg/sec) was significantly greater (P<0.01) than in the afternoon (4.42 mg/sec). The rate milk flow is positively correlated (0.762) with the milk yield of the animals.

Keywords

• Animal temperament, Milk let-down, Milk flow rate