Chapter 17: Dairy Cattle Flashcards
1
Q
Dairy Species and Breeds
A
- usually Bos taurus for high milk output, but also hybrids in places like SE Asia for heat/parasite tolerance and milk output
- Holsteins (worldwide predominance because of high yield) and Jerseys
2
Q
Domestication
A
- originally thought to be about ~2000 BC (later than sheep and beef)
- now thought to be ~5000 BC based on pottery in Europe that had traces of milk (possibly to make cheese)
3
Q
Dairy Cattle Distribution
A
- India has 18% of dairy animals, but not the largest amount of milk production
- US has 12% of dairy animals
- dairy cattle fairly evenly distributed worldwide bcs fluid milk is highly perishable
- majority of milk produced is exported around the world as non-fluid milk
- these other products have longer shelf life than fluid milk (esp cheese and milk powder)
4
Q
Milk Powder
A
- majority of milk is water
- when water is extracted from milk, you get milk powder
- milk powder is the DM of milk
5
Q
Dairy Industry in the US
A
- 9M dairy cows in US
- CA #1 producer, with 1.7M cows
- then Wisconsin, NY, Idaho
- dairy practices differ by region, state, and country
6
Q
Herd Sizes/Stocking Density
A
- over time, dairy herds have increased
- smallest ones might be in NE (100s)
- CA: avg is 2500, but could be as much as 5-10,000
- consolidation of different types of inputs (largest being feed) determines herd size
7
Q
High Quality Forage
A
- determines herd size and operation type
8
Q
Pasture
A
- smaller herds
- need a lot of rainfall
- NorCal has pasture-based dairies on the coast
- can’t do pasture all year in the Midwest because of snow
- Central Valley: corn plant silage (more close in nutritive value to actual plant), hay (loses some nutritive value), grains
- total mixed rations
9
Q
High-Quality Forage
A
- high nutritive density
- high digestibility
- need nutrients in the feed to be readily available/easily accessible to the microbes
- milk production is the most energy-demanding process and is very nutrient-demanding on the animal
10
Q
Breeds
A
- genetics determine how much milk is produced
- Holsteins: 23,000 lbs (11,000 L) of milk per lactation
11
Q
Lactation
A
- period between calving/birth to dry-off period (often corresponds to weaning, but not w/ dairy cattle bcs calves are taken from dairy cows
- lactation length: 300-305 days
12
Q
Dry Period
A
- 60 days
- 2 months before calving
13
Q
Timeline
A
- cow impregnated
- 281 days later, she gives birth and starts producing milk
- 2 mo after birth: she comes back into heat and is bred again
- 2 mo before birth: she stops getting milked and gets dry period
- calving once a year, lactating for 10 mo, dry for 2 mo
14
Q
Milk
A
- 90% water
- lactose
- fat
- protein (also Ca)
15
Q
Lactose
A
- carbohydrate/sugar
- disaccharide (12-C)
- one molecule of glucose and one molecule of galactose
- only produced in the mammary glands (udder for cows)
- lactose can be used by the baby, but also brings water into milk
- water from cow’s blood supply is moved into lactose-making cells in the udder
16
Q
Monosaccharide
A
- 6-C sugar (hexose)
- like glucose
17
Q
Disaccharide
A
- 2 hexose sugar molecules (12-C)
18
Q
Fat
A
- milk has cream in it that floats to the top
- those droplets make up the fat in milk
- liquid is homogenized to remove the fat
- 3 fatty acid chains attached to one glycerol backbone make up triglycerides
- fatty acid chains come from VFAs and the food that the cow is eating
- lactose made from glucose consumed by cow, fatty acids made from VFAs and diet
19
Q
Homogenized
A
- milk is blended/frothed, and fat that floats up to the top is mashed up to remove fat skin on top of milk
20
Q
Proteins
A
- AA building blocks
- several proteins in milk are only produced by the udder
- cheese: protein groups in curdled milk are separated and clotted together
- also how calcium gets in milk
21
Q
Perfect Foods
A
- honey and milk
22
Q
Udder
A
- one udder
- 4 quarters, none of them connected to each other
- 4 glands
- 4 teats
- milk cows 2-3 times per day (the more you milk them, the more the cells are stimulated to make milk)