Dairy Flashcards
What are some common dairy breeds in Canada?
- Holstein (>90%)
- Jersey
- Ayrshire
- Brown Swiss
- Guernsey
Describe the life of a dairy calf.
- baby calf
- weaned calf (2 months)
- open heifer (6 months)
- bred at 12-15 months
- calving at 24 months
What are 2 types of housing for pre-weaned calves?
- individual housing (individually fed)
- group housing (automatic feeder)
What is an advantage of each type of housing for pre-weaned calves?
- individual: less disease transmission
- group: they can control how much they drink and it can be monitored
Describe the yearly life of a cow.
- open cow (lactate for 10 months)
- breeding: 2-3 months after calving
- gestation (9 months)
- Dry (2 months before calving)
- calving
What is a far off dry cow?
less than 8, but greater than 4 weeks until calving
What is a close up dry cow?
less than 4 weeks before calving
What is a fresh cow?
until 3 weeks after calving
What is a transition cow?
3 weeks before until 3 weeks after calving
What is a parity?
the number of times that a cow has given birth
What is a lactation curve?
- a graph in which days in milk is plotted against milk production
When does milk production peak?
- peaks 6-8 weeks after calving and then drops by 7% per month until cow is dried off at end of the lactation
Baby calf
- from birth to weaning (2 months)
- housed individually or in groups
weaned calf
- from weaning to 6 months of age
- housed in small group pens
open heifer
- from 6 months to breeding
- housed in large group pens
bred heifer
- from 13-15 months of age to first calving
- housed in large group pens
first lactation heifer
- calved for the first time and are milking
- housed with the lactating cow group
lactating cows
- in their second or greater lactation
- housed in the lactating cow group
How are dairy cows bred?
- pasture bred by bull or AI
- most dairy producers purchase semen and use SI to breed their cows
Tie stall
- cows are tied in individual stalls and feed is delivered to them; cows may be milked n the stalls or in a parlour
Free stall
- barn with stall area and feeding area; cows are free to use whichever stall they wan and can go to the feed bunk any time
loose housing
- cows are housed on a bedding pack with no individual stalls; are free to lie down wherever they want and go to the feed bunk any time
What is a type of enrichment for dairy cows?
- automatic brush things
What are the types of milking systems?
- pipeline (tie stall barns)
- parlor (herringbone, parallel, tandem)
- rotary
- AMS: automatic milking system (robotic)
What is the advantage and disadvantage of AMS?
- good: reduces need for labour
- bad: huge initial capital investment
