Relationship between Temperament and Stage of Lactation, Productivity and Milk Composition of Dairy Cows

Animals

Vesta Jonike¹  Algirdas Urbšys¹  Vida Juozaitienė¹  Danguolė Urbšienė¹  Algimantas Paulauskas¹  Ramūnas Antanaitis²  Vytenis Čukauskas³  Walter Baumgartner⁴ 

[1] Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University, K. Donelaičio 58, LT-44248 Kaunas, Lithuania;Large Animal Clinic, Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilžės Str. 18, LT-47181 Kaunas, Lithuania;State Enterprise Center for Agricultural Information and Rural Business, V. Kudirkos Str. 18-1, LT-03105 Vilnius, Lithuania;University Clinic for Ruminants, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria;

关键词: dairy cows;    temperament;    productivity;    heath;    heritability;    phenotypic correlation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani11071840

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between temperament and milk performance in cows at different stages of lactation, describing their productivity, metabolic status and resistance to mastitis. This study showed that with increasing lactation, cows’ temperament indicators decreased (p < 0.001) and they became calmer. The highest temperament score on a five-point scale was found in cows between 45 and 100 days of lactation. In the group of pregnant cows, we found more cows (p = 0.005) with a temperament score of 1–2 compared with non-pregnant cows A normal temperament was usually detected in cows with lactose levels in milk of 4.60% or more and when the somatic cell count (SCC) values in cow milk were <100,000/mL and 100,000–200,000/mL, with a milk fat-to-protein ratio of 1.2. A larger number of more sensitive and highly aggressive cows was detected at a low milk urea level. In contrast to a positive phenotypic correlation (p < 0.05), this study showed a negative genetic correlation between the temperament of cows and milk yield (p < 0.001). Positive genetic correlations between temperament scores and milk somatic cells (p < 0.001) and milk fat-to-protein ratio (p < 0.05) were found to indicate a lower genetic predisposition in cows with a calmer temperament to subclinical mastitis and ketosis. On the other hand, the heritability of temperament (h² = 0.044–0.100) showed that only a small part of the phenotypic changes in this indicator is associated with genetic factors.

【 授权许可】

Unknown