84
Four Times Milking in Cows of Tharparkar Breed
calving, which in these experiments averaged 442 days, the net gain due to four times milking on
eight Tharparkar cows is Rs. 2-2 per day.
There can be no doubt that the practice of two times milking with many Indian breeds results
in the country having to maintain a larger number of animals than is necessary for the production
of the same amount of milk. The experimental results referred to suggest that this is not less than
47 per cent and that probably 61 per cent is a nearer figure for the Tharparkar cows under the ex-
periment. In a country where labour is not an expensive item there is here a case of increased reward
out of proportion to the cost of labour involved.
There has been no decrease in the fat percentage in milk which has remained at about five per
cent in both the herds since the introduction of four times milking.
Experience in the general management of the herds in question suggests that three times milk-
ing has an effect similar in manner, if not to the same degree, as four times milking.
SUMMARY
At the Agricultural Substation, Karnal, H. Tharparkar cows were milked four times in a
day and 'haudled' i.e., udder massaged 15 to 20 days before calving and milked as secretion started,
while 12 cows were milked twice a day and not 'handled'.
The increase in the average yield per day for the wet period due to four times milking and
handling' was 47 per cent over cows milked twice a day.
The overall average and lactation yield showed 61 per cent and 74 per cent increases respectively.
The calving interval for cows under four times milking was 442 days and that for cows under
two times milking was 414 days. This variation was due to the slightly longer service period neces-
sitated by the longer lactation period in the case of cows under four times milking. But this longer
interval has not affected the overall average which was 61 per cent more than the cows milked twice
daily.
When the yields of cows under the two and four times milking were graphed, the latter showed
a definite upward trend of the curves with each succeeding lactation and a development of flush
period. Under the two times milking no development of the flush period took place, and the yield
curves showed a rapid downward trend in the later lactations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our thanks are due to Messrs. N. P. Fernandez and S. Zahir-ud-din for their painstaking super-
vision of the experiment and accurate recording of the results during their respective terms of office
as Cattle Superintendents at Karnal. Special thanks are due to Mr Wynne Sayer who, as Imperial
Agriculturist, introduced many new methods into the technique of management in Indian breeds
of dairy cattle. The soundness of his methods has been fully demonstrated in the successful deve-
lopment of the (Sahiwal and Tharparkar herds, in the latter of which, the experiment was initiated,
by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, to verify by actual test his claim that Indian breeds
of dairy cattle require milking more than two times daily in order to stimulate and develop their
full capacity for milk yield.
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Espe, D. (1941). Secretion of Milk. Iowa State College Press, Iowa
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