Lactation period
As lactation , and lactation is known in the held for milking the period, agricultural livestock such as cows , sheep or goats milk.
In the case of dairy cows , this is usually the period between the birth of the young animal (e.g. “calving” in the case of cows) and the drying off , usually 305 days. During this period, milk production is subject to the so-called lactation curve . This is the course of the daily amount of milk that farm animals can give within a lactation period. This is usually highest shortly after calving and then decreases continuously. By using beef somatotropin , the lactation period can be extended economically effectively by increasing milk yield, but this is not permitted in Europe.
Not all farm animals have such a long lactation period. In the case of the yak , which is of considerable importance as an agricultural animal on the Asian plateau, the lactation period is significantly shorter. Here it is often no longer than five months. This is due, among other things, to the fact that yaks have so far only been bred for milk production to a very limited extent. In addition, the extreme climatic conditions and the often inadequate nutritional conditions in winter set limits to yak milk production.
literature
- Jürgen Lensch, Peter Schley, Rong-Chang Zhang (eds.): The Yak (Bos grunniens) in Central Asia . In: Giessen treatises on agricultural and economic research in the European East , Volume 205. Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-428-08443-8