The prediction of dairy performance of cows from the lactation induced by treatment with oestrogen

Abstract

SummaryLactation was induced in 30 Holstein heifers by treatment with synthetic oestrogen only. The average age of the heifers at the start of treatment was 16·6 months and the average lactation yield 1072 kg of milk with a fat content of 3·43% given in 241 days. Subsequently, 22 of these animals gave a normal lactation starting at an average age of 31 months, with yields of 3980 kg milk with a fat content of 3·31% given in 294 days. The induced lactation was slightly associated with reproductive problems and growth of the animals was normal. There was a good within-cow correlation between the yield and composition of the milk obtained in the 2 lactations. The correlation coefficients between the total production of the milk in the normal lactation and the total yield and peak production in the induced lactation were 0·718 and 0·785 and that between the average percentages of fat in the milk obtained in the 2 lactations was 0·718.It is possible to predict dairy performance from the performance during the induced lactation, but before the procedure can be recommended for general use the question whether it may induce reproductive difficulties requires further investigation.