The relationships between milk yield and udder measures in holstein cattle

The Relationships Between Milk Yield and Udder Measures in Holstein Cattle This study was carried out to investigate the relationships between milk yield and udder measures in Holstein cattle. The animal material of the research consisted of 50 Holstein cattle in the private livestock farm in Başpınar village of Tefenni district belonging to Burdur province. For this purpose, this farm was visited on the 14th day of every month during lactation as well as on the days when udder measures were taken between the years 2017-2018. On the 50±14; 100±14 and 150±14 birth days of cattle which are divided into groups according to lactation order, nine different udder measurements were taken just before milking and subjected to statistical analyses. The effects of lactation order on distance between front teats, rear teat diameter, ground clearance of front teat, ground clearance of rear teat and length of rear teat were found highly significant (P<0,05). The effects of lactation period on the distance between front teats, the distance between rear teats, the distance between side teats and rear teat diameter were highly significant were highly significant (P<0,05). The effects of lactation order and lactation periods on milk yield on test days were not significant statistically (P>0,05). Whereas the effects of lactation order on lactation period, daily average milk yield, lactation milk yield were not significant (P>0,05), the effect on 305-day milk yield (kg) was found statistically significant (P<0,05). During the 1st period of lactation, statistically significant correlations were found between 305-day milk yield and the distance between side teats (P<0,001) in positive (0,55) as well as between 305-day milk yield and the distance between front teats (P<0,01) in positive (0,36), it was revealed that there were statistically significant correlations between 305-day milk yield and ground clearance of front teat in negative (-0,29) as well as 305-day milk yield and ground clearance of rear teat in negative (-0,36) (P<0,05). During the 2nd period of lactation, whereas statistically significant correlation was found between 305-day milk yield and the distance between front teats (P<0,01) in positive (0,42), significant correlation was found between 305-day milk yield and the ground clearance of rear teats (P<0,05) in negative (-0,36). During the 3rd period of lactation, whereas statistically significant correlation was found between 305-day milk yield and the distance between side teats (P<0,001) in positive (0,53), it was revealed that there were statistically significant correlations between 305-day milk yield and the ground clearance of front teats in negative (-0,52) as well as between 305-day milk yield and the ground clearance of rear teats in negative (-0,56) (P<0,001). In this study, the relationships between milk yield and udder measures in Holstein cattle were found to be generally compatible with other studies. Key Words: Holstein Cattle, Milk Yield, Udder Traits