Lactation curve: how milk yield changes
A lactation curve shows how daily milk yield changes with days in milk. Yield usually rises after calving, peaks in the first weeks or months, then gradually falls through the rest of lactation. Following the curve helps you compare cows, assess feeding and plan when to dry them off.
How does milk yield change?
For example, a cow gives 30 kg of milk per day on day 40 and 25 kg per day on day 120. Her yield has fallen between those dates. Compare her pattern with the herd average at the same stage of lactation.
HerdMobile helps you follow each cow's daily milk yield over time, so you can spot changes and adjust her feeding plan as lactation progresses.
In HerdMobile, daily milk records sit beside each cow's own lactation history, so changes in yield are noticed and the feeding plan can follow them.
Questions from the farm
What is the peak of a lactation curve?
The peak is a cow's highest daily milk yield during lactation. It usually comes in the first weeks or months after calving. Both the amount of milk and the timing vary with the cow and her feeding.
Why compare cows at the same stage?
Milk yield naturally falls as lactation progresses. Comparing cows at similar days in milk helps you see which are producing above or below expectations. Comparing a freshly calved cow with one nearing dry-off can hide that difference.
How HerdMobile helps
Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.
Use HerdMobile to compare a cow's daily milk yield with her earlier production, making changes easier to spot as lactation progresses.
