Release of oxytocin (OT) is essential for milk ejection in dairy cows (Lefcourt & Akers, 1983; Bruckmaier & Blum, 1998). During milk ejection, alveolar milk is shifted into the cistern, which causes an increase of intracisternal pressure (Bruckmaier et al. 1994). To initiate maximum milk ejection at the start of milking, increasing OT concentration beyond a threshold level is sufficient (Schams...

The effects of sheep alpha s1-casein CC, CD and DD genotypes on milk composition and cheese yield were studied. Processed bulk milk was collected from three groups of 15 ewes, carrying alpha s1-casein CC, CD and DD genotypes. CC milk was higher in casein content than CD or DD milk (+3.5 and +8.6% respectively), and had a higher protein: fat ratio and a smaller casein micelle diameter. In additi...

The results herein presented furnish exact critical evidence for one more stage in milk secretion. Cows producing up to 30 pounds of milk at one milking are shown to have the lactose equivalent of all this milk in the udder when milking commences. The average excess of lactose found in the udder after subtracting the amount necessary for the contained milk is equal to 2.1 pounds. This represent...

About 10% of primiparous cows have no milk ejection during the first milkings after delivery. Therefore, 17 Brown Swiss dairy cows in their first lactation were used to evaluate the extent of disturbed milk let-down and the corresponding oxytocin (OT) plasma values in the 1st 5 days after delivery. The first milking was 9-22 h after parturition and served for classification of the cows to group...

The study aimed to determine factors affecting the dry period length and effect of dry days on milk yield, milk composition and lactation length in the next lactation of dairy cows. Data used for analysis included 7264 lactation records collected from 2012 to 2016 on 4737 Holstein cows raised in 152 herds. The statistical model used to determine the factors influencing the dry period length sho...

Two experiments were conducted to compare techniques to maximise the amount of milk harvested mechanically from Poll Dorset ewes. The treatments were double cupping, machine stripping, Sagi hook, a negative control (no extra stripping applied) and a positive control (residual milk withdrawn after injecting 5 IU of oxytocin). In the first experiment it was shown that the amount of milk collected...

The production performance of multiparous lactating Sahiwal cows (n = 24) was evaluated according to both milking frequency and method. Selected animals were randomly divided into four groups containing six animals each under a completely randomized design. Cows in groups A & B were milked by the hand milking method three times per day, respectively. Similarly, cows in groups C & D were milked ...

this study investigated the effect of rumex sc (commercial product which includes of saccharomyces cervisiae, saponin and essential oils) on rumen fermentation, blood glucose, urea, milk yield and milk composition. animals were offered a basal diet containing alfalfa hay (15.5%), corn silage (24%), beet pulp (7%) and concentrate (53.5%). additionally, rumex sc was included in the experimental d...