Milk yield and lactation length of Ghana Sanga and its crosses with the Friesian Raised under agropastoral system

Milk yield traits and lactation length of two breeds of cattle raised on natural pasture with little or no supplementation were assessed. A total of 42 573 daily milk records on 98 Friesian-Sanga cows collected over a period of 10 years and 17 790 daily milk records on 72 Sanga cows spanning a 6-yea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical animal health and production 2010-03, Vol.42 (3), p.349-356
Main Authors: Darfour-Oduro, K. A, Sottie, E. T, Hagan, B. A, Okantah, S. A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Husbandry
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cattle
Cattle - genetics
Cattle - physiology
Dairying - economics
Dry season
Female
Genetic improvement
Ghana
Lactation - physiology
Life Sciences
Milk
Pasture
Rainy season
Seasons
Time Factors
Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science
Yield
Zoology
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Summary:Milk yield traits and lactation length of two breeds of cattle raised on natural pasture with little or no supplementation were assessed. A total of 42 573 daily milk records on 98 Friesian-Sanga cows collected over a period of 10 years and 17 790 daily milk records on 72 Sanga cows spanning a 6-year period were used in the study. Traits examined for each breed were daily milk yield, total milk yield, 305-day milk yield, 305-day milk yield/day and lactation length. Friesian-Sanga cows outperformed their Sanga counterparts in all traits studied. Friesian-Sanga cows had an average daily milk yield of 1.35 ± 0.00 kg; average total milk yield of 266 ± 12 kg; average 305-day milk yield of 339 ± 10 kg; average 305-day milk yield/ day of 1.11 ± 0.03 kg and mean lactation length of 201.1 ± 6.9 days. Average values for Sanga cows were 1.01 ± 0.00 kg as daily milk yield; 162 ± 12 kg as total milk yield; 244 ± 10 kg as 305-day milk yield; 0.80 ± 0.03 kg as 305-day milk yield/day. Mean lactation length for Sanga cows was 164.1 ± 9.4 days. Season of calving significantly (P 
ISSN:0049-4747
1573-7438
DOI:10.1007/s11250-009-9425-5