- Title
- Primiparous and multiparous cow behaviour of friesland, jersey and cross-bred cows around calving time and during milking
- Creator
- Mpisana, Zuko
- Subject
- Dairy products--Analysis Jersey cattle Milk yield
- Date
- 2015
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- Animal Science
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16113
- Identifier
- vital:40665
- Description
- The objective of the study was to determine effect of behaviour of primiparous and multiparous Friesland, Jersey and Cross-bred cows around calving time and during milking of first lactating cows in a pasture-based dairy system. The trial was conducted at the Fort Hare dairy farm. All pregnant primiparous and multiparous were kept in a maternity paddock. Five observers monitored the cows from the onset of parturition until the calf was fully expelled using digital stop watches. The behavioural responses of the cows during parturition (frequency and duration of lying, standing and walking bouts; calf licking; suckling) and milking (avoidance distance scores (ADS), entrance score, (ES), exit speed (ES), feeding score (FS), and the occurrence of stepping (STP) and kicking (KCK)) were determined on eighty consecutive days. The behavioural attributes were analysed using generalised linear model of procedure of SAS (2003). One hundred and twenty pregnant cows were used in the study, comprising of forty cows per genotype in different parities (A-primiparous, B- 2 to 4, C-5 to 6 and D-7 to 8) and kept in a maternity paddock. Five observers monitored cows from the onset of parturition until the calf was fully expelled. There were differences (P < 0.05) observed on the behavioural patterns around the time of calving. Jersey multiparous cows spent (P < 0.05) significantly most of their time (20.50±3.10) in lying position as compared to the other genotypes. The Jersey genotype also spent most (P < 0.05) of their time (48.00±0.34) in a standing position during calving period. Friesland cows spent (P < 0.05) most of their time (12.00±1.19) exhibiting either stepping or walking attributes as compared to Jersey and Crossbred cows. The Jersey genotype spent significantly (P < 0.05) more time (123.00±10.43) expelling calves compared to the other genotypes. Crossbred cows had the highest avoidance distance (14percent) scores compared to other genotypes and the Friesland cows had the lowest distance scores. The occurrence of kicking was significantly (P < 0.05) higher for the Friesland cows (57.3percent) compared to Jersey (23.2percent) and Crossbred cows (19.6percent). The Friesland cows had the highest (P < 0.05) frequency (36.2percent) feeding score compared to Jersey and Crossbred cows. The Jersey cows had the highest (60.2percent) exit speed compared to other genotypes. The occurrence of stepping was higher for the Friesland cows (53.9percent). The Friesland cows had the highest (P < 0.05) daily milk yield compared to Jersey and Crossbred cows. The present study revealed that behavioural activities of dairy cattle during parturition differed according to genotype and parity and the behavioural response of first lactating cows differ according to genotype during milking.
- Format
- 89 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science and Agriculture
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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UFH Department of Livestock & Pasture Science
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | M Sc Agric (Animal Science) MPISANA, Z.pdf | 705 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |