| Different Types of Lactation Curve in Dairy Animals |
Dongre V. B.
Ph.D. Scholar, Animal Genetics & Breeding,
Dairy Cattle Breeding Division,
National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal (Haryana)-132001
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Introduction
Milk production in dairy animals is a complex physiological process which follows a definite trend of milk secretion throughout the lactation. Milk production has a great importance in mammals for providing food for the offspring in early stages of life. For a large part of the world population, from an economic standpoint, milk obtained from ruminants species (and, to a some extent, from camels and horses) represents one of the main food sources.
The phenomenon of milk production or lactation starts at parturition and continues until the dry-off of the lactating female. This is characterized by a peculiar pattern common to several species of mammals generally known as lactation curve. Brody et al. 1923 defined the lactation curve as the graphical representation of milk yield against time. However, Gaines, 1926 defined it as the curve representing the rate of milk secretion with advance in lactation. The standard shape of the lactation curve is characterized by an initial increasing phase, from parturition till a maximum, followed by a declining phase that ends at the dry-off stage.
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