The aim of this work was evaluation of milkability in Holstein cows. We collected a total 63 milk flow curves, using electronic mobile milk flow meter – lactocorder. The measuring was carried out in cows from 5 to 305 days in milk. The average milk yield per milking was 15.63 kg, with average milk flow rate 2.84 kg.min-1 and average maximum milk flow rate of 4.49 kg.min-1. The average duration of incline phase was 1.09 min., duration of plateau phase was 1.82. min, and duration of decline phase was 2.26 min. Percentage of bimodal milk flow curves was 52 %, on average. The highest average milk flow rate (3.01 kg.min-1) and the highest average peak milk flow rate (4.96 kg.min-1) were found in cows in second lactation, in comparison with primiparous cows (2.87 kg.min-1, and 4.37 kg.min-1) and cows in another lactation (2.7 kg.min-1, and 4.3 kg.min-1)

Peter Antalík

Peter Strapák

Zuzana Súkeníková

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ORIGINAL PAPER207 Volume 10 (2009) No. 3 (207-210)MILKABILITY IN HOLSTEIN COWSDOJITEĽNOSŤ KRÁV HOLŠTAJNSKÉHO PLEMENAPeter Strapák*, Zuzana Súkeníková, Peter AntalíkDepartment of Animal Husbandry, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovak Republic, phone: +421-37-6414806,  e-mail: Peter.Strapak@uniag.skManuscript received: August 1, 2008; Reviewed: September 22, 2008; Accepted for publication: August 18, 2009ABSTRACTThe aim of this work was evaluation of milkability in Holstein cows. We collected a total 63 milk ﬂow curves, using electronic mobile milk ﬂow meter – lactocorder. The measuring was carried out in cows from 5 to 305 days in milk. The average milk yield per milking was 15.63 kg, with average milk ﬂow rate 2.84 kg.min-1 and average maximum milk ﬂow rate of 4.49 kg.min-1. The average duration of incline phase was 1.09 min., duration of plateau phase was 1.82. min, and duration of decline phase was 2.26 min. Percentage of bimodal milk ﬂow curves was 52 %, on average. The highest average milk ﬂow rate (3.01 kg.min-1) and the highest average peak milk ﬂow rate (4.96 kg.min-1) were found in cows in second lactation, in comparison with primiparous cows (2.87 kg.min-1, and  4.37 kg.min-1) and cows in another lactation (2.7 kg.min-1, and  4.3 kg.min-1). Key words: lactocorder, milking process, milkability, milk ﬂow rate, dairy cowsABSTRAKTV práci sme hodnotili dojiteľnosť kráv holštajnského plemena. S pomocou prístroja lactocorder sme analyzovali celkom 63 kriviek prietoku mlieka. Hodnotenie bolo vykonané v časovom období od 5. do 305. dňa laktácie. Na základe uskutočnenej analýzy sme v hodnotenej populácii kráv zistili priemerný minútový výdojok 2,84 kg.min-1 a priemernú maximálnu rýchlosť toku mlieka pri dojení 4,49 kg.min-1, pri produkcii 15,63 kg mlieka pri dojení. Na základe našich meraní a podrobnej časovej analýzy priebehu dojenia sme zistili priemernú dĺžku vzostupnej fázy 1,09 min., vyrovnanej (plató) fázy 1,82 min a fáza poklesu toku mlieka – zostupná fáza predstavovala 2,26 min. Bimodalita hodnotených kráv dosiahla priemernú úroveň 52 %. Najvyšší priemerný minútový výdoj (3,01 kg.min-1) a najvyšší priemerný maximálny minútový výdoj (4,96 kg.min-1) sme zaznamenali pri kravách na druhej laktácii, v porovnaní s prvôstkami (2.87 kg.min-1, resp.  4.37 kg.min-1) a kravami na tretích a ďalších laktáciách   (2.7 kg.min-1, resp.  4.3 kg.min-1). Kľúčové slová: lactocorder, priebeh dojenia, dojiteľnosť, prietok mlieka, kravy208 Journal of Central European Agriculture Vol 10 (2009) No 3Peter Strapák, Zuzana Súkeníková, Peter AntalíkDETAILED ABSTRACTS použitím prístroja lactocorder sme hodnotili dojiteľnosť a priebeh dojenia kráv holštajnského plemena. Celkom bolo  analyzovaných  63  kriviek  prietoku  mlieka. Hodnotenie bolo vykonané v časovom období od 5. do 305.  dňa  laktácie.  Kravy  boli  dojené  dva  krát  denne. Na  základe  uskutočnenej  analýzy  sme  v hodnotenej populácii kráv zistili priemerný minútový výdojok 2,84 kg.min-1 a priemernú maximálnu rýchlosť toku mlieka pri dojení 4,49 kg.min-1, pri produkcii 15,63 kg mlieka na výdoj. Prístroj lactocorder analyzuje rýchlosť toku mlieka len z hlavnej fázy dojenia (t.j. po prekročení rýchlosti toku mlieka nad 0,5 kg.min-1). Z hľadiska toku mlieka môžeme hlavnú fázu dojenia rozdeliť na fázu vzostupnú, vyrovnanú (plató) fázu a fázu poklesu toku mlieka. Na základe  našich  meraní  a podrobnej  časovej  analýzy priebehu dojenia sme zistili priemernú dĺžku vzostupnej fázy 1,09 min., vyrovnanej (plató) fázy 1,82 min. a fáza poklesu  toku  mlieka  –  zostupná  fáza  predstavovala  v priemere 2,26 min. Pri  zohľadnení  vplyvu  poradia  laktácie  sme  zistili najvyšší  priemerný  minútový  výdoj  (3,01  kg.min-1)  a najvyšší  priemerný  maximálny  minútový  výdoj  (4,96 kg.min-1)  pri  kravách  na  druhej  laktácii.  V porovnaní s kravami na prvej laktácii, resp. staršími kravami (na tretej a ďalších laktáciách) to predstavuje vyššie hodnoty o + 0,14 kg.min-1 a + 0,59 kg.min-1, resp. +0,31 kg.min-1 a +0,66 kg.min-1 pri priemernom maximálnom prietoku mlieka pri dojení. Najdlhšie trvanie vzostupnej fázy (1,17 min.) a dĺžky zostupnej fázy (3,1 min.) sme vypočítali pri  kravách  na  tretej  a ďalších  laktáciách.  Výsledky práce potvrdili predlžovanie vzostupnej a zostupnej fázy dojenia  s pribúdajúcou  laktáciou.  Najdlhšia  vyrovnaná fáza dojenia (1,90 až 1,92 min.) bola zistená pri prvôstkach a starších kravách holštajnského plemena.    Bimodalita hodnotených kráv dosiahla priemernú úroveň 52 %. Na základe vykonaných meraní sa potvrdilo, že kvalitnejšou prípravou kráv na dojenie je možné výrazne znížiť bimodalitu, resp. skrátiť celkový čas dojenia a tým zrýchliť prechod zvierat dojárňou.INTRODUCTIONMilkability is described as individual trait of dairy cow, which it characterised functional trait of udder, release ability  of  milk.  Milkability  belongs  to  the  group  of functional traits. Functional traits are the characters of an animal that increase efﬁciency, not by higher output of products but by reducing the cost of input [5].The main emphasis is given on primary traits (production of beef and milk) in the breeding of cattle in Slovakia. Those  traits  have  considerable  affect  on  the  breeding economic. Our breeding programmes paid low attention this traits complex. Nowadays it is engaged in research of functional traits raising attention in Slovakia [8].Usually milkability is measured as milking speed, either recorded instrumentally or with subjective judgment. The usage of milking ﬂowmeters is increasing and spreading at  international  level  [7].  The  lactocorder,  a mobile milk meter, is used for routine dairy recording in dairy herds. This milkmeter calculates milk ﬂow rate during milking. Lactocorder can be used as a diagnostic tool for evaluating milking procedure problems [9].   More and more countries use the lactocorder to evaluation milkability traits in dairy farms. [2] calculated average value of milkability with lactorocder in Austria. He found out milking speed in Fleckvieh 2.04 kg.min-1, Braunvieh 1.90 kg.min-1 and in Holstein cows 2.21 kg.min-1. The  milk  ﬂow  rate  was  performed  by  lactocorder  in Bavaria. A total number of observations were 870 165. Average  minute  milk  ﬂow  rate  was  2.04  kg.min-1  in Brown Swiss and lower value 1.80 kg.min-1 was found out in Flecvieh. The higher milk ﬂow rate 2.20 kg.min-1 was measured in Holstein cows [1]. [4] evaluated of milkability in Croatia. They calculated average milk ﬂow rate  2.52  kg.min-1  and  maximum  milk  ﬂow  rate  3.88 kg.min-1 in Holstein cows. [3] found out parameters of milkability  traits  in  Holstein  cows  in  Korea. Average maximum milk ﬂow per minute was 3.21 kg kg.min.-1 and average milk ﬂow rate during main phase of milking was 2.30 kg.min-1. A total produce of milk was 14.14 kg per milking, of it 62 % cows were milked in time ﬁrst 3 minutes of milking. Average time of milking was 8.23 min.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe  study  was  carried  out  in  chosen  dairy  farms  in Slovakia.  Data  set  consisted  of  63  curves,  obtained from different Holstein cows. Measurements were made with electronic mobile milk ﬂow meters – lactocorder. Lactocorder  measure  milk  ﬂow,  milk  yield  and  milk conductivity  throughout  the  milking.  Milk  ﬂow  rate is  measured  every  0.7  seconds,  and  an  average  of  4 measurements is stored every 2.8 seconds. Milkability was evaluating from 5 to 305 days in milk. Cows  were  milked  twice  a  day  (5  hour  a.m.  and  5 hour p.m.) in tandem milking parlour. The preparation procedure consists of cleaning the udder, massage with wet wiper and dry teats followed by attachment of the milking unit. The milking was automatically ended. Cows  were  classiﬁed  into  three  groups  by  parity  (1. group - cows in ﬁrst lactation, 2. group – cows in second lactation, 3. group – cows in third and other lactations). MILKABILITY IN HOLSTEIN COWS209 J. Cent. Eur. Agric. (2009) 10:3, 207-210Following parameters were used in our study: the milk yield per milking, the maximum ﬂow rate, the average ﬂow rate, the duration of main milking phase, the time of increase phase, the time of plateau phase, the time of decline phase and the bimodality.Bimodality is a parameter in the ﬂow increase phase and records a stimulated double peak ﬂow development at the start of milking. This is reﬂected in the form of the temporary interruption in the incline after milking out the cistern milk and prior to the on setting milk ejection.The differences between the groups were tested by the Student-t test. The relation between milk production and the average and maximal milk ﬂow rate per minute was analysed by the Pearson correlation coefﬁcient. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION We were evaluating 63 milk ﬂow curves from Holstein cows. The average milking ﬂow pre minute was 2.54 kg.min-1 and maximum milking speed was 4.71 kg.min-1. The total milk yield was 15.63 kg.Lower value of average milking ﬂow rate on -0.64 or -0.63 kg.min-1 were found in Germany by Dodenhoff [1] and by Fürst [2] in Austria. Those data were obtained from lactocorder, too. Measurements were made mainly in  primiparous  cows  of  Holstein  breed  within  the evaluation of breeding value of bulls. Mijic [4] calculates lower value of average milking ﬂow rate on -0.32 kg.min-1, too. Lee and Choudhary [3] found out average milking speed 2.30 kg.min-1 regardless of parity.         Table 1: Milk flow parameters of Holstein cows Tabu�ka 1: Ukazovatele dojite�nosti kráv holštajnského plemena 1Trait10Average 11Parity1.  2.  �3.2Number of cows (n)  63  24  16  23 3Milk yield (kg/milking)  15,63  14,03  16,82  16,48 4Average milk flow rate (kg.min-1)    2,84    2,87    3,01    2,7 5Maximum milk flow  (kg.min-1)    4,49    4,37    4,96    4,3 6Bimodality (%)  52   50  50  56 7Time of incline phase (min)  1,09  1,01  1,09  1,17 8Time of plateau phase (min)  1,82  1,9  1,56  1,92 9Time of decline phase (min)  2,26  1,88  3,04  3,1 1ukazovate�,2po�et kráv, 3produkcia mlieka na nádoj, 4priemerný minútový výdojok, 5 maximálny minútový výdojok, 6bimodalita, 7vzostupná fáza, 8vyrovnaná fáza, 9fáza poklesu, 10priemer, 11poradie laktácie Figure 1. Graphical output of Lactocorder – milk ﬂow curve of adequate and inadequate preparation for milking in cow (with bimodality - sudden decrease milk ﬂow at 96 second from milking start).210 Journal of Central European Agriculture Vol 10 (2009) No 3Peter Strapák, Zuzana Súkeníková, Peter AntalíkHigher value of milkability parameters of cows in our study could have been inﬂuenced by lower number of observations and standard of chosen dairy farm.  Most  milk  ﬂow  parameters  were  inﬂuenced  by  parity order,  mainly  as  a  in  consequence  of  different  milk production levels. Cows in second lactation had the highest average milking ﬂow rate (3.01 kg.min-1).  Primiparous cows had lower average milking ﬂow rate (2.87 kg.min-1) and cows in the third and other lactation were milked average milking ﬂow rate 2.7 kg/min-1. Dodenhoff et al. [1] and Tančin et al. [10] found out the highest average milking ﬂow rate (2.19 kg.min-1) on cows in the third lactation. They calculated lower value of milking speed in second lactation (2.17 kg.min-1) and the lowest value in primiparous cows (2.01 kg.min-1), which was equal with results of our study. The differences among evaluated groups of cows were not signiﬁcant.The  highest  average  maximum  milk  ﬂow  rate  (4.96 kg.min-1) was found out in cows in the second lactation and 4.37 kg.min-1 in the primiparous cows. Lower value of peak milk ﬂow 4.3 kg.min-1 achieved cows in the third and another lactation. Lee and Choundhary [3] and by Mijic et al. [4] found out lower average peak ﬂow rate (by -1,28 kg.min-1 and by -0,61 kg.min-1 , respectively) We found out a signiﬁcant interaction between average milk  ﬂow  rate  and  milk  yield  per  milking.  Similar interactions  in  these  parameters  of  milkability  were reported by Dodenhoff et al. [1].Bimodality is a parameter in the ﬂow increase phase and records a stimulated double peak ﬂow development at the start of milking. Percentage of bimodal milk ﬂow curves was  52  %,  in  average.  In  previous  study  of  Holstein cows lower frequencies of bimodality were registered. Dodenhoff et al. [1] observed percentages of bimodality of 21 %, 24 % and 23 % for Holstein cows in ﬁrst, the second  and  the  third  lactation,  respectively.  The  high percentage of bimodality observed in this study depended on premilking operations. CONCLUSIONThe analysis of the milkability traits of 63 milk ﬂow curves of Holstein cows shows the average milk ﬂow rate 2.84 kg.min-1 and the maximal milk ﬂow rate 4.49 kg.min-1, in the total milk yield per milking 15.63 kg. The cows at the second lactation achieve the best milkability parameters. The high occurrence of bimodality (52%) shows the faults during preparation before milking and insufﬁcient expression of the ejection reﬂex.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSupported by the Grant Agency VEGA foundation of the Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic (Project No.1/0695/09).REFERENCES[1]  DODENHOFF,  J.  Milkability  –  german experiences. In: 7th World Conference of Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders. 3rd March 2004, pp. 179–183. [2]  FÜRST,  CH.  Totgeburten  in  Österreich, Rinderzucht Fleckvieh. (2000) 4: pp.5.[3]  LEE,  D.  H.  –  CHOUDHARY,  V.  Study  on milkability  traits  in  Holstein  cows,  Asian-Australian Journal of Anim. Sci, (2006) 19 (3): 309-314. [4]  MIJIC, P. - KNEZEVIC, I. - DOMACINOVIC, M. Connection of milk ﬂow curve to the somatic cell count  in  bovine  milk,  Archives  of  Animal  Breeding, (2004) 47: 551 - 556. [5]  PEDERSEN, J. The importance of functional traits. In: The European Holstein Friesian Confederation the  23rd  European  Conference  Kibbutz  Ma’ale Hachamisha,  Israel,  1997.  http://www.lr.dk/kvaeg/diverse/ehfc_jop _1997.  pdf> (2006-12-13).[6]  RENSING, S. New Ways of Data Recording and Genetic Evaluation for Functional Traits. In: Proceeding of the 26th European Holstein and Red Holstein Conference, Prague,  May  2005.  www.whff.info/pdf/26ehacprague/ rensingnewwaysfunctionals  prag20050518.pdf>(2006-03-13). [7]  SANTUS,  E  –  GHIROLDI,  S.  Milkability Genetic  Evaluation  in  Brown  Swiss: An  International approach, Proceeding of the Interbull meeting, Uppsala, 2005, pp. 33. [8]  STRAPÁK,  P.  –  CANDRÁK,  J.  – MICHALCOVÁ, A. - JUHÁS, P. – HALO, M.. Functional traits of cattle., SPU Nitra, 2005, ISBN 80-8069-497-4.[9]  TAMBURINI,  A.  -  SANDRUCCI,  A.  - NICOLETTI, C. – ZANINI, L. 2007. Milking procedures and milk ejection in Italian Brown cows. In: Ital. J. Anim. Sci., (2007), 6: 478-480.[10]  TANČIN, V. - IPEMA, B. -  HOGEWERF, P. -  MAČUHOVÁ, J. 2006. Sources of Variation in Milk Flow  Characteristics  at  Udder  and  Quarter  Levels.  J. Dairy Sci., (2006) 89: 978-988.[11]  WALLACE,  J.A  –  SCHUKKEN,  Y.H  – WELCOME,  F.  Measuring  Stimulation’s  Effect  with Milk  Flow  Curves.  Proc.  95th Annual  Conference  for Veterinarians, 14-16 March 2003: 228-238.  

MILKABILITY IN HOLSTEIN COWS

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