I have a small dairy enterprise in Machakos County, currently hosting four Friesian cows of which two have calved once.

My plan is to breed my own calves by cross-breeding them with other breeds like Holsteins, Fleckvieh or Ayrshire.

Two of those that have calved were served again last month. The two, which are still being milked, seem to have reduced production from 10-12 litres per day to almost six litres, and the udder seems to have reduced.

โ€ข What could be the problem?
โ€ข What can I do best to increase milk production in future and what should I do during steaming up to facilitate udder growth?
โ€ข ย Any breed that you can recommend with good milk production, 40 litres and above?
โ€ข When is the best age to serve a heifer and any recommended breed or semen for virgin heifers?

The reduction in milk production seen in the lactating cows could mean that they are in late lactation (and approaching dry period), which under sound reproductive performance is normally accompanied by late pregnancy.

In your case, these cows have experienced longer open days which means they are not in-calf and this costs you the maximisation of profits.

To begin with breeding / fertility, your cows could have experienced silent heat and gone unnoticed, therefore, not served.

Normally, cows resume heat around 30-40 days after calving but service should be delayed to between 45-90 days.

During this period, give unrestricted access to quality mineral salts, high quality feed and observe them keenly for heat signs especially in cool morning hours and late evenings.

When milk production falls further, consider offering high plane of nutritional feeds with extra concentrates and mineral salts (steaming up).

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Be careful not to overfeed concentrates that can lead to rumen acidosis and over-conditioning the cows.

Observe the cows for any signs of heat and inseminate when these signs are clearly seen.

The clearest sign of standing heat is mounting. As for the ones that have been served, give quality fodder, supplemented with protein sources and concentrates based on the amount of milk each produces.

When it comes to dairy cattle breeds in Kenya, Friesian produces the highest amount of milk followed by Ayrshire, then the other breeds like Guernsey and Jersey. Take note that high milk producing cows are made.

You need to get it right with genetics (inseminating with semen from bulls of high genetic merit in the bull catalogue) and heightened management.

As a matter of fact, when calves are managed well, they gain weight fast and are ready for breeding early as virgin heifers.

Ideally, most farms ready their heifers for first service at 18 months but this can be reduced to just 14 months under exceptional management and depending on the breed.

The choice of semen, whether local or imported may depend on producer goals but this can be guided well by your artificial insemination service provider.

Credit: Felix Akatch Opinya, Department of Animal Science, Egerton University.

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