WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHILE SELLECTING DAIRY COW
While going to introduce new dairy cattle in existing herd or at the time of purchasing new dairy animal to start dairy farming business, one has to consider a lot of things .This salient feature for consideration at the time of purchasing play a vital role in the success of the dairy farm. Often new entrepreneurs of dairy are cheated by brokers and middle man and sometimes even traders by presenting less productive cows to more productive or high milker.
 |
| 10 Points To Consider When Buying a Dairy Cow |
An animal’s performance is as a result of the sum of the
effects of its genetic makeup, the environment it is reared in and an interaction
of the two.
The model for the best animal can be simplified by P = G + E; where
P represents an individual’s phenotype, G represents its genotype, E represents
the environmental effects which are external non-genetic factors that affect an
animal’s performance, for instance, management.
Knowledge of the function of the animal and the interactions
between the genotype and other components of the system is, therefore,
necessary if we are to choose the ideal cow.
Knowing, for example, that the Indian milk cooperatives milk
market usually pays producers on the basis of milk fat % basis, is crucial in
focusing on the right traits when making choices.
Likewise, appreciating the fact that parasite resistance is
critically important in tropical climates will enable you to consider traits
such as tick count – a measure of tick resistance.
In temperate regions, less emphasis is placed on parasite
resistance and more on other traits. The best dairy cow in the Netherlands,
therefore, would most likely not be the best in the Indian sub-continent.
What you need to consider when choosing a dairy cow.
Before seeking the right dairy cow, look at the following;
Suitability to the environment.
Important environmental parameters such as rainfall and
temperature ought to be considered.
Availability of feed resources throughout the year and
possibility of storage.
Land size:
This determines the number of animals you can keep.
Intensity of production, which is whether you intend to rear
your animals under zero-grazing or free-grazing.
Outlay of capital resources required.
Availability of the animal of choice and transportation
costs involved.
Milk market requirements and preferences.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHILE SELLECTING DAIRY ANIMAL
a) Production traits
They mainly refer to milk volume and the contents, that is,
percentage of butterfat level, protein and other non-fat solids. Milk volume
should be considered relative to amount of feeds consumed since more produce
from relatively lesser fodder is proof of a high feed conversion efficiency.
More solids in milk generally increase the quality. It is of
no use at all to breed a fantastic looking cow, which produces no milk.
Therefore, one must select animals that are positive for milk production.
b) Conformation traits
These traits give a good indication of the performance of
the dairy animal and include the udder structure, nature of feet or legs,
stature and general dairy character.
• The udder should be pliable, silky in texture, sack-like
in nature and non-pendulous but firmly attached with strong suspensory
ligaments high up near the vulva region. A huge udder is not necessarily a sign
of a high milk yield, in fact, it is recommended that one should choose a cow
with a medium-sized (but wide base) udder that should not hang below its hock
joint. The teats should be average-sized and evenly placed and oriented
(pointing straight down) on the udder.
• Good feet and strong legs lead to longevity of a dairy cow
and facilitates it to be able to feed comfortably especially when in-calf (on
average, a dairy cow is in-calf for about 80 per cent of its lactation
duration). For a bull, strong feet and legs enable it to mount successfully
though in dairy animals, more emphasis is on the cows and heifers due to the
preference and comparative advantages of artificial insemination over natural
mating. Observed from behind, a cow’s hind legs should stand straight and wide
apart while the side view should show a slightly set back hock (sickled) ending
with slightly angled feet. The front legs should also be straight with a steep
strongly attached pastern.
• The ideal cow’s stature should portray a deep, long body
with wide, sprung ribs to provide ample space for the rumen and other digestive
system organs. A good dairy cow should have a wedge shape, long neck, good
width between fore legs, wide pin bones, broad muzzle and strong straight
backline.
• The classic dairy character is indicated by sharpness
across shoulders and slight general leanness all over the body ending with a
thin fine tail. A good dairy cow is not stocky or beefy as this shows poor feed
conversion efficiency. Generally, pedigree dairy cows portray flatness of bone
usually evident on the inner thigh.
c) Fertility traits
The number of inseminations per conception will always
determine the success of a breeding program. The fewer the inseminations per
conception, the better the fertility of a particular animal.
It is important to choose animals with (or from a family
renown for) a good conception rate since difficult or repeat breeders are
expensive to maintain and cause immense losses.
This will enable a farmer to target a calving interval of
one calf annually per cow. For farmers using natural mating, one should choose
bulls that do not shy away from mounting receptive cows or those that exhibit
excessive libido. A bigger scrotal circumference and fully descended testes are
normally indicators of good fertility.
d) Longevity traits
This determines the amount of total lifetime milk production
of a cow but it is usually influenced greatly by other traits such as health
and fertility. Choose heifers or bull semen from families with a history of
cows that can maintain high production ability across many lactations as well
as have as many normal calving as possible in their lifetimes.
e) Health traits
As much as disease-prevention and control measures are
important in ensuring sustained productivity, some emphasis should be laid on
choosing disease-resistant and hardy animals to remain in production for long.
In harsh climate areas with a higher prevalence of tropical
diseases (East Coast Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease), it may be wiser to
undertake crossbreeding between exotic dairy breeds and indigenous lines since
in such conditions, hybrid animals normally perform better than purebreds
f) Calving ease traits
Physical traits that facilitate easy calving include a wide
pelvic diameter (observed from behind) and a gentle slope from pin to hip bone
(observed from the side). A cow’s body frame should portray a strong straight
back or loin, which is essential during gestation in enabling the animal to
comfortably feed as well as carry its fetus to term.
g) Workability
Milking speed is of essence in maximizing yield since milk
let-down is controlled by oxytocin hormone whose concentration levels in blood
diminish with time. It is, therefore, important to choose animals with the
right teat size, shape and opening (position and orifice size). Bad temperament
interferes with oxytocin flow during milking, thus, one should likewise
consider docility when choosing a dairy animal.
How to breed heifers of higher quality than parental stock
Many ambitious dairy farmers already have one or two cattle
in their backyards and for them, it may not always be feasible to buy superior
animals but they would rather want to upgrade from what they have.
Genetic improvement of dairy cattle starts from the
establishment of selection or breeding goals, which are dictated by farmers
through market requirements. When coming up with breeding goals, we ask
ourselves what type of animal do we want and which traits are involved?
Realization of the goals is achieved by;
• Recording of genealogic and performance data, including
characteristics of economic importance of each individual. Given the fact that
most traits of economic interest are expressed only in females and have
moderate to low heritability, a reasonably large number of progeny records is necessary
to estimate the genetic merit of a bull with an acceptable accuracy.
• Use the data to perform genetic evaluation of the animals
to determine the best performing in line with the breeding goals. Records
needed to evaluate dams include those on milk production history, type traits
assessments and fertility. For sires, production records of its female
relatives and including the overall performance records of its daughters’ are
mainly used.
With artificial insemination (AI) though, one can ask for a
sire catalogue (a booklet containing evaluated performance and expected
transmitting ability of important traits in a bull) from AI service providers
to identify the best semen to upgrade the cow. Note that the right semen to
upgrade the future offspring of one cow may not be right for another cow.
• Actual selection of the best performing animals to be
parents of the next generation.
• Dissemination of selected animals germ-plasm (genetic material) using
reproductive technologies that include artificial insemination and embryo
transfer.
Sourcing quality cows for breeding
One must understand the structure of the national dairy
cattle population to be able to source the best animals. Most populations can
be thought of as having a pyramidal structure: a relatively small number of
breeders at the top selling breeding stock to a larger number of multipliers
who in turn sell animals to a great number of end users.
The pyramid suggests a flow of germ-plasm – genetic material
in the form of live animals, semen or embryos – from the top down, the elite
breeders producing the most advanced animals, breeders at the multiplier level
replicating these animals and end users benefiting from the genetic improvement
occurring at the higher levels.
Ideally, breeders at each level try to produce animals that
will be in the greatest demand by their customers at lower level, with the
ultimate result being that the best animal is the most useful or profitable to
the end user. End users can, thus, be defined as the individual whose particular
needs should form the basis for determining breeding objectives.
Points To Consider When Buying a Dairy Cow
Dairy character
This is the evidence of feed conversion efficiency into
milk, not meat, and fat as this determines the return on investment.
An animal should be angular in shape while viewed from the
side and be open ribbed (can fit in 3 or more fingers between their ribs), have
prominent chine bone (back bone from point of hump to the middle of backbone
joining the loins), have clean bones free from a lot of fleshing and have soft
pliable skin.
The neck should be long and lean with an alert head.
Body capacity
The expression of a cow’s ability to consume enough feed and
water.
The size of the barrel (the body part between the fore legs
and the hind legs that is supported by the loins and the chine bone), should
have deep ribs from fore to rear that are wide and long in the barrel, have
good chest width (between the front legs), to allow the heart and lungs
function well.
Have strong and wide muzzle with wide nostrils to allow for
good chewing and breathing.
Stature (height of a cow measured at the rump) should be
good. Mature cows that have attained five years have an average of 55-56
inches.
The loins should be wide, long and level with good jointing
with the chine to ensure strength of the back bone to be able to support many
pregnancies.
Feet and legs
The feet/hoofs need to have sufficient heel and, therefore,
an average of a 45 degrees angle that the hoof makes with the ground.
The rear legs should be flexible and not be too curved at
the hocks for good support.
When viewed from the rear, the rear legs should be open with
hocks far apart for good mobility and avoid a lot of friction with the udder.