Electronic Field
Trip to a Beef Farm 
Lactation
In all mammals, lactation begins once
an offspring has been born. Dairy cattle are the greatest
milk producers. Milking begins 1 to 3 days after a calf is
born. Lactation generally peaks between 8 to 10 weeks of milking.
To ensure the highest productivity dry matter (feed minus
the natural water in it) intake peaks between 12 to 16 weeks.
Later, feed is decreased to prevent overfattening. The lactation
period is generally 44 weeks.
During this milking period, the cows are milked 2 to 3 times per day, everyday, at the same time. A cow enters the milking stanchion in the milking parlor where the udder is washed with warm water. Each teat is dried individually with a paper towel. The milk is then stripped from each teat into a strip cup. It should generally take 5 minutes to milk a single cow. Once the cow is finished milking, the milker is removed and the teats are dipped in disinfectant. When this is completed, the cow is released.
After the cow completes lactation, she
is allowed to go dry for a period of about 8 weeks. During
this time the cow is fed roughages (grass, hay, silage) until
2 to 3 weeks prior to calving. During this final 2 to 3 weeks,
concentrate feed (grain) is increased. Once the cow calves,
the process begins again. The chart below shows the lactation
periods of several mammals.
|
Lactation (Milking) | ||
| cow | 275 - 285 days | beef
180 - 270 days |
| dairy 305 - 365 days | ||
| ewe | 142 - 115 days | 60 - 90 - 120 days |
| sow | 112 - 115 days | 21 - 42 days |
| mare | 330 - 345 days | 90 - 150 days |
| woman | 270 days | ? years |
Take the quiz on lactation to find out how much you remember.
