Effects of month of kidding, parity number, and litter size on milk yield of commercial dairy goats in Australia

Abstract

The aim of this observational study was to identify the influence of key nongenetic factors such as month of kidding, parity, and litter size on milk yield and composition of Australian dairy goats throughout lactation. The study was conducted over 4 consecutive kidding seasons from June 2016 to March 2017. Data from 940 lactations of Saanen goats from a commercial herd were used to observe the effects of month of kidding, parity number, and litter size on total milk yield (L/goat) in early lactation (kidding to 90 d in milk; DIM), mid lactation (91–180 DIM), and late lactation (181–270 DIM), cumulative milk yield (from kidding to 270 DIM; CMY), average lactation length, proportion (%) of do..