Effect of temperament of Jersey and Holstein Friesian cows on milk production traits and somatic cell count (Short Communication)

Abstract. The aim of present study was to investigate the relationships between temperament score and milk production, as well as somatic cell count in a herd of Jersey and Holstein Friesian breeds. The temperament of 283 Jersey and 69 Holstein Friesian cows were assessed (scored) by the temperament score test (behaviour of animals was assessed in a 5-score system (1: calm, 5: nervous) while spending 30 s on the scale during weighing). The daily milk yield, fat, protein content and somatic cell count were also investigated in this study. Our investigation did not reveal any correlation between daily milk yield and temperament score. But milk somatic cell count was showed positive moderate relation with the temperament scores of Jersey (r_rank=0.67; P=0.0001) and Holstein Friesian (r_rank=0.66; P=0.0001) cows. Calmer cows had lower somatic cell count (Jersey: 135.40×10³/cm³; Holstein Friesian: 176.07×10³/cm³) compared to the more temperamental cows (Jersey: 540.44×10³/cm³; P=0.0001; Holstein Friesian: 744.91×103/cm³; P=0.0001, resp.).