Association among Feeding After Milking, Animal Factors and Post-milking Standing Period and Effect of Post-milking Standing Period on Intra-Mammary Infection in Crossbred Cows

Abstract

The present investigation was undertaken to study the association of time of feeding after milking and animal factors with post­milking standing period (PMSP) and effect of PMSP on the milk somatic cell count (SCC)) in crossbred cows. 24 lactating cows were selected and divided into 2 groups, each of 12 (G1: feeding within 15 min after milking and G2: feeding after 90 min of milking). PMSP was recorded for individual animal and categorized into < 90 min and > 90 min and milk sampling was done and subjected to microscopic method of somatic cell count. All procedure was performed at monthly interval for 4 month of duration. The estimated overall mean (±SE) of SCC (logarithmic) was 5.377 ± 0.039. Time of feeding after milking was significantly (P<0.05) associated with PMSP as the higher percentage (72.92%) of animals were found under the PMSP of > 90 minutes in group G1 as compared to G2. The PMSP was significantly (P<0.01) affected the SCC level and the mean SCC(±SE) was 5.965±0.056 in the animals that lie down before 90 minutes after milking while in the animals that lie down after 90 min, mean SCC(±SE) was 5.037±0.037. The association of parity and production level with the PMSP was also significant (P<0.01) and primiparous and medium producer cows showed longer duration of PMSP. Observations revealed that PMSP can be managed by managing feeding time and can be utilized for maintaining better udder health.