In the past decade, a global demand for products from organic agriculture has increased rapidly. Milk quality is of major interest for all parties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare cow performance and product quality in conventional and organic system. Twenty Holstein dairy cows were allotted to one of 2 diet groups, which including: a conventional diet (CON), and an organi...

The objective of this study was to validate an electronic system for monitoring individual feeding behavior and feed intake (Intergado Ltd., Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil) in freestall-housed dairy cattle. No data have been published that validate either the behavioral measurement or the feed intake of this system. Feeding behavior data were recorded for 12 Holstein cows over 5d using an Inter...

The aim of this article was to investigate the impact of feed sources and feeding system on milk production and milk marketing in the Babille district of Eastern Hararghe zone. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which was administered to 152 randomly selected sample dairy cow keepers in the district. Data was analyzed using descriptive methods and regression analysis. Data fro...

the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of weaning age on dry matter intake (dmi), average daily gain (adg), feed efficiency (fe), feed cost (fc) and benefit index (bi) of holstein calves reared under organic farming system. thirty two holstein calves were divided into two treatments: early weaning (ew) vs. late weaning (lw). calves in the both groups were provided with whole mi...

One of the primary objectives of dairy producers is to promote dry matter intake (DMI) to support milk production. Considerable research to date has focused on improving the DMI of lactating dairy cows by changing the nutrient composition of feeds. However, the DMI of group-housed lactating dairy cows is also affected by feeding behavior, which is modulated by the environment, management, healt...

Several measures of life cycle cow efficiency were calculated using weights and individual feed consumptions recorded on 160 dams of beef, dairy and beef X dairy breeding and their progeny. Ratios of output to input were used to estimate efficiency, where outputs included weaning weights of progeny plus salvage value of the dam and inputs included creep feed consumed by progeny plus feed consum...

AIM Cows on smallholder dairy farms (SDF) in developing countries such as Kenya typically produce volumes of milk that are well below their genetic potential. An epidemiological study was conducted to determine reasons for this low milk production, including limited use of best management practices, such as suboptimal nutritional management. METHODS An observational cross-sectional study of 1...

Feed is the single largest operating expense on dairy farms and should be considered one of the most important variables behind successful production, animal health, and profitability of a dairy. Annual feed costs per milking cow can average $1000 to $1200 per year, or $100,000 to $120,000 for every 100 milking cows. Despite this fact, only a minority of dairy farms closely track feed quality v...

Although data are scarce, it is clear that grouping strategy can have a significant impact on the feeding behavior and feed intake of dairy cattle. Feed intake is controlled by ruminoreticular fill and physiological mechanisms, but grouping is a component of the cow’s feeding environment that can modulate intake as a result of its impact on cow comfort, competition for feed and other resources,...

twenty four primiparous and multiparous holstein cows on early lactation, beginning five weeks postpartum, were used for four weeks to investigate the effects of supplemention of rumen-protected choline (rpc) or vitamin e on milk yield, milk composition, dry matter intake, body condition score and body weight. the cows were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: i)no supplement (...