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Effects of teat measurement and teat shape on milking time, milk flow rate and milk yield in Brown Swiss cows were evaluated. The means of 305-day milk yield for cylindrical, funnel and bottle teat shape groups were 3156, 3169 and 2377 kg, respectively. The mean values for the milking time in 1st2nd and 3rd milk yield groups were 6.54, 6.56 and 6.20 min and the differences were not statistically significant. Length and diameter of front and rear teats were negatively correlated with milk flow rate. Milk flow rate showed significant correlations with 305-day milk yield and milk yield per milking (P < 0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between milking time and milk flow rate (P < 0.001). In conclusion, 305-day milk yield of bottle teat shape cows was lower than that of cylindrical and funnel teat shape cows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, the body measurements (BMs) of Holstein cows were determined using digital image analysis (IA) and these were used to estimate the live weight (LW) of each cow. For this purpose, an image capture arrangement was established in a dairy cattle farm. BMs including wither height (WH), hip height (HH), body length (BL), hip width (HW), plus the LWs of cows were first determined manually, by direct measurement. Then the digital photos of cows were taken from different directions synchronously and analyzed by IA software to calculate WH, HH, BL and HW of each cow. After comparing the BMs obtained by IA with the manual measurements, the accuracy was determined as 97.72% for WH, 98.00% for HH, 97.89% for BL and 95.25% for HW. The LW estimation using BMs was then performed by the aid of the regression equations, and the correlation coefficient between the estimated and real (manual) LW values obtained by weighing was calculated as 0.9787, which indicates the IA method is appropriate for LW estimation of Holstein cows. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]