Milk yield, composition, and lactation curve models of Bargur cattle under farmers’ production system in their native habitat

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Abstract
Milk yield and composition traits (fat (%) and SNF (%)) from 1229 test day records of 205 Bargur cattle maintained under a farmers’ production system were studied. This breed is known for its adaptability to the hilly tracts of Erode District in Tamil Nadu. Performance recording was done in the natural habitat through the test-day milk yield from lactating cows in the farmers’ herds. Effects of non-genetic factors like season, year, parity, stage of lactation, and days from calving were studied using mixed models with animal taken as a random effect. Estimated marginal means for daily milk yield (DMY, L/day), fat (%), and SNF (%) were 2.05 ± 0.03, 4.08 ± 0.03%, and 8.19 ± 0.01%, respectively. Stage of lactation was highly significant (P < 0.01) for DMY, fat, and SNF. Season and year were significant for DMY and SNF, where higher productivity was obtained in the monsoon season, but fat remained constant in all the seasons. Parity was significant (P < 0.05) only for SNF, and year was significant for DMY (P < 0.01) and SNF (P < 0.05). Persistency was 5.9% calculated using Wood’s gamma function and 63.0% calculated using the ratio of predicted yields. This was slightly lower compared to dairy breeds of cattle. Thirteen different lactation curve models were used for fitting of Bargur cattle lactation curve, and the Parabolic exponential model was the best fitting model based on model diagnostic criteria.

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