Dairy Breeds and Selection

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Dairy Breeds and Selection
Original Power Point Created by Randal
Cales Modified by Georgia Agricultural Education
Curriculum Office June 2002
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Dairy Breeds and Selection Overview

• Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle
• Dairy Terms and Definitions
• Parts of a Dairy Cow
• Dairy Traits and Selection
• Judging Contests

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Holstein
• Black and White or Red and White color pattern
• Large sized
• Heavy milk producers

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Jersey
• Color varies (light gray to a dark fawn being
  darker around the head and hips)
• Medium sized
• Produces more pounds of milk per body weight than
  any other dairy breed.

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Guernsey
• Red (Fawn) and White in color
• Medium sized
• High milk production to feed intake ratio
• Milk is high in betacarotene

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Brown Swiss
• Solid brown, varying from very light to dark
• Large sized
• Light colored band around the muzzle
• One of the oldest Dairy breeds
• Above average milkfat content

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Ayrshire
• Red and white in color (amount varies)
• Medium sized
• Purebred Ayrshires only produce red offspring
• Average milk production

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Milking Shorthorn
• Red and white or any combination of red and white
• Dual purpose breed
• Medium sized
• Average milk producer
• Split from the American Shorthorn Assoc. in 1949

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Major Breeds of Dairy Cattle

• Milking Devon
• Red in color
• Triple purpose (Draft, beef, milk)
• Not normally raised for milk production
• Medium sized

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Jersey

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Milking Shorthorn

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Brown Swiss

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Guernsey

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Milking Devon

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Ayrshire

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Major Breeds of Dairy CattleReview

• Holstein

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTerms

• Bull-
• Mature male dairy animal
• Cow-
• Mature female dairy shows evidence of having
  produced one or more calves
• Heifer-
• Female dairy animal that has not borne a calf
• Calf-
• Male or female dairy animal under one year of
  age
• Steer-
• castrated male beef animal.
• Springer -
• Cow showing signs of pregnancy

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTerms

• Dairy character -
• characteristics indicating the animal will be
  useful in the dairy industry
• Butterfat (milkfat)-
• percent of fat in the milk
• Milk production -
• amount in pounds of milk that a cow produces
  during a lactation period
• Lactation -
• span of time that a cow is giving milk
• Pedigree -
• register of lines of ancestry
• Dairy Herd Improvement records (DHI)-
• production records kept on producing dairy
  cattle

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTerms

• Freshen-
• When a dairy cow gives birth to a calf
• Dry Cow-
• A cow that is between lactations
• Body Capacity-
• The length, depth and width of the body
• Withers-
• The part where the shoulders and back come
  together
• Hooks-
• The two bones that stick out at the hip of a
  dairy cow
• Pins-
• Bones on either side of the tail at the back of
  the rump.

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTerms

• Mammary system -
• parts of the cow directly responsible for
  producing and storing milk
• Mammary Vein-
• The vein that runs down the belly of a cow and
  supplies blood to the mammary system
• Teats-
• The part of the udder where milk is made
  available to the young animal
• Median Suspensory Ligament-
• The cleft or indentation that lifts and
  separates the two halves of the udder and holds
  them in place.
• Fore Udder Attachment-
• Muscles/ligaments where the front portion of
  the udder is attached to the abdominal areas of
  the cow.
• Rear Udder Attachement-
• Muscles/ligaments that hold the rear udder in
  place.

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection

• Milk Production Facts
• Breed Percent Butterfat Pounds Butterfat
  Pounds Milk Production
• Holstein 3.66 703 19,185
• Ayrshire 3.95 569 14,398
• Jersey 4.75 618 13,020
• Brown Swiss 4.03 606 15,062
• Guernsey 4.57 611 13,363

Think about this? 1. Which breed produced the
most total pounds of milk? Why do think this is
so? 2. Why would butterfat be important to
milk? 3. What breed produced the lowest total
pounds of butterfat? 4. What would you think the
most popular breed of Dairy cattle would be
judging from this data? Why? 5. What is the
definition of milk production? Why would a cow
be lactating?
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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• Stature (measured at withers)
• Best- extremely tall
• Worst- extremely short
• Chest and body (considering age and stage of
  lactation)
• Best- wide chest, deep rib, long body
• Worst- extremely narrow and frail

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• Dairy character (independent of performance)
• Best- extremely sharp
• Worst- extremely thick
• 4. Foot and shape (angle)
• Best- extremely steep angle
• Worst- extremely low angle

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• 5. Rear legs (side view)
• Best- extremely sickled
• Worst- extremely posty
• Pelvic angle
• Best- severe slope
• Worst- pins higher than hooks

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• 7. Rump width
• Best- extreme width
• Worst- extremely narrow
• Fore udder attachment
• Best- extremely tight attachment
• Worst- extremely broken

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• 9. Rear udder width (at attachment)
• Best- extreme width
• Worst- extremely narrow
• 10. Rear udder height (at attachment)
• Best- extremely high
• Worst- extremely low

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• 11. Teat placement (rear view)
• Best- extremely close placement
• Worst- extremely wide placement
• 12. Suspensory ligament (cleft)
• Best- extremely cleft
• Worst- cleft is broken

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionTraits and Selection
(Dairy Evaluation System)

• 13. Udder depth (relative to point of hock)
• Best- extremely shallow
• Worst- extremely deep

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionUse What you have
learned

• Which animal would be considered desirable?
• What terms would you use to describe the
  differences?
• Which animal shows the best general appearance?
• Are these cows or heifers? Why?

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionUse What you have
learned

• Which animal would be considered desirable?
• What terms would you use to describe the
  differences?
• Which shows more dairy character? What are the
  indicators?
• What about the udder?

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Dairy Breeds and SelectionSuggested Activity

• Acquire 3 gallons (what ever is needed for the
  size of the class). Milk must have the cream
  included. 1/2 gallon of homogenized milk. 1/2
  gallon of 2 milk. A number of small Dixie cups.
  Small glass containers with tight lids.
• Discuss the differences between fresh milk and
  milk from the supermarket.
• Divide the students into pairs of teams of 3.
• Have them separate the cream out of the fresh
  milk.
• Taste test the three samples of milk and describe
  the differences in writing.
• Place the separated cream in the glass containers
  with lids.
• Have the students shake the cream until it turns
  to butter.
• Note This activity could be team taught with
  the Family and Consumer Science instructor.
  Bread could be made available for sampling the
  butter. A field trip to a dairy to view the
  milking process are other possible activities.