Evaluation of milk persistency of second lactation in several grading of Jersey x Red Sindhi crossbred cows

Abstract

One crucial aspect of the dairy cattle production system's economy is lactation persistency. It refers to a cow's capacity to continue producing milk even after it peaks. Since milk output is a significant characteristic in the dairy business, knowledge of this phenotype is crucial for assessing a farm's productivity. The purpose of this paper is to assess the persistency of milk output in different classes of cow crossbreds: ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi, ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi, 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi, and 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi. Information was gathered from the pedigree cum history sheet kept at the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. Milk yield from the second (L2) lactations of 83 cows and 498 observations of various grades of Jersey x Red Sindhi crossbred cows were recorded in kilograms. Samples were collected up to six months. The mean of milk yield for six months in L2 were 170.53±6.80 kg of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi crosses, 180.81±4.36 Kg of ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi crosses,156.63±5.69 kg of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses, 155.64±4.46 kg of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses respectively. The peak of milk yields was achieved at the second month of the lactation L2 were 194.23 - 314.14 kg of 1/2 Jersey × 1/2 Red Sindhi crosses, 164.42 - 304.81 kg of 1/4 J x 3/4 RS, 156.94 - 250.38 kg of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses and 156.53 - 260.63 kg of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses, respectively. The persistency of milk yield for L2 were 2.13±0.13 of ½ Jersey × ½ Red Sindhi crosses, 2.20±0.07 of ¼ Jersey × ¾ Red Sindhi crosses, 2.33±0.12 of 3/8 Jersey × 5/8 Red Sindhi crosses, 2.21±0.07 of 1/8 Jersey ×7/8 Red Sindhi crosses respectively. The capacity of an animal to continue producing milk after attaining its peak yield during the lactation phase is known as milk yield persistency. Dairy animals that are more tenacious perform better. The current study came to the conclusion that, in order to increase herd production, persistence of cows may be helpful in choosing those with higher estimations.