Milk production of Holstein cows in small, medium and large size

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the body size in milk production in the first, second and third lactations of Holstein cows. A total 133 cows were used, selected from a herd of 280 cows, classified as small, medium and large based on the body size composite (stature x 10 + strength x 5 + depth x 3 + rump width x 2)/20. Data were collected from January 2007 to October 2009 in a commercial herd with intensive system of milk production, located in Salto Jacuí, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. All cows were subjected to the same conditions of facilities management being used and milked three times a day. Data were obtained from the software Afimilk® - SAE AFIKIM. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with three treatments (body size). There was no interaction between milk production and body composite. Low correlation among body size composite and milk production was observed. Cows for medium and large size had similar on milk production superior (P<0,05) to small size. Means for 305-days milk production in the lactation were 8,053; 8,810 and 9,218 liters for small, medium and large cows, respectively. Based on the totality of lactations evaluated, cows of medium size were more efficient than the others for the intensive production system in question.

body size; body size composite; body weight; peak milk production; persistency