EFFECT OF HERD, AGE, PARITY AND STAGE OF LACTATION ON MILK PRODUCTION TRAITS IN INDIGENOUS BORGOU CATTLE BREED IN BENIN.

Borgou cattle breed represent more than 50 % of cattle population in Benin. However, there is very little data on the variation of their major milk components. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of herd, age, parity and stage of lactation on milk production traits in Borgou cattle breed. A total of 95 Borgou cows in lactation were included in the study and the contents of major milk components were determined using MilkoScan FT 6000 Series mid-range infrared Fourier transform infrared-based spectrometers. Results showed that, differences in test-day milk, protein and fat yields (P<0.01), milk urea nitrogen % (P<0.001) and lactose % (P<0.05) were observed between herds. The Borgou cows of 3-5 years old presented higher test-day fat yield (44.32 vs 33.95 g, P<0.05) and higher protein yields (34.63 vs 30.05 g, P<0.05) than the Borgou cows of more than 5 years old. The cows on second parity presented higher test-day milk (1.12 kg; P<0.05) and protein yields (38.14 g, P<0.05) than cows on first and third or more parity. However, the lactation stage did not show significant effect on milk production traits in Borgou cattle breed (P>0.05). The test-day milk yield showed negative correlation with protein content (-0.233, P<0.05) and positive correlations with test-day fat yield (0.676, P<0.001) and test-day protein yield (0.809, P<0.001). The fat content showed positive and moderate correlations (P<0.001) with protein content (0.495) and negative correlation with lactose content (-0.379). The findings from this study will be taken into consideration when designing a breeding program to improve milk production traits in indigenous Borgou cattle breed in Benin.