Table 1.
Mean and S.D. of data contained within the dataset, arranged by lactation number, obtained from 27 experiments involving 840 individual Holstein-Friesian dairy cows during early lactation (1–20 WIM).
| Item 1 | Lactation 1 | Lactation 2 | Lactation 3 | Lactation ≥ 4 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Mean | S.D. | n | Mean | S.D. | n | Mean | S.D. | n | Mean | S.D. | |
| Individual lactations, n | 474 | 405 | 252 | 190 | ||||||||
| Intake | ||||||||||||
| Forage DM, kg/day | 8873 | 7.7 | 2.14 | 7556 | 9.7 | 2.56 | 4612 | 10.5 | 2.64 | 4564 | 10.7 | 2.71 |
| Concentrate DM, kg/day | 8873 | 8.5 | 2.77 | 7556 | 10.3 | 3.30 | 4612 | 10.8 | 3.27 | 4564 | 11.2 | 3.18 |
| Total DMI, kg/day | 8873 | 16.3 | 3.09 | 7556 | 19.9 | 3.62 | 4612 | 21.3 | 3.83 | 4564 | 21.9 | 3.79 |
| Total ME intake, MJ/day | 8873 | 198 | 39.3 | 7556 | 242 | 47.1 | 4612 | 259 | 49.9 | 4564 | 268 | 48.1 |
| Milk yield and comp. | ||||||||||||
| Milk, kg/day | 8835 | 27.2 | 5.12 | 7503 | 34.4 | 6.57 | 4587 | 38.0 | 7.17 | 4537 | 39.4 | 8.36 |
| ECM, kg/day | 8833 | 27.7 | 4.89 | 7498 | 35.1 | 6.27 | 4577 | 38.6 | 7.02 | 4534 | 39.8 | 8.06 |
| Fat, g/kg | 8873 | 41.0 | 6.44 | 7556 | 41.3 | 6.62 | 4612 | 41.7 | 7.23 | 4563 | 41.3 | 7.12 |
| Protein, g/kg | 8873 | 33.0 | 2.91 | 7556 | 33.6 | 3.04 | 4612 | 33.3 | 3.05 | 4563 | 32.9 | 2.99 |
| Lactose, g/kg | 8873 | 48.8 | 2.09 | 7556 | 48.0 | 2.02 | 4612 | 47.4 | 2.09 | 4563 | 47.2 | 2.13 |
| Milk E output, MJ of ME/day | 8873 | 86.0 | 15.1 | 7498 | 109 | 19.4 | 4577 | 120 | 21.7 | 4528 | 124 | 24.9 |
| FPR, ratio | 8873 | 1.25 | 0.190 | 7556 | 1.23 | 0.185 | 4612 | 1.25 | 0.208 | 4563 | 1.26 | 0.202 |
| Body reserves | ||||||||||||
| BW, kg | 8730 | 517 | 46.8 | 7469 | 568 | 50.6 | 4534 | 611 | 57.0 | 4526 | 637 | 61.4 |
| BCS, units | 6520 | 2.57 | 0.237 | 6588 | 2.40 | 0.238 | 3947 | 2.38 | 0.295 | 4012 | 2.36 | 0.304 |
| BW change 2, kg/wk. | 8362 | 0.67 | 9.94 | 7178 | 1.00 | 9.87 | 4347 | 0.34 | 10.3 | 4366 | −0.24 | 10.9 |
| Blood metabolites | ||||||||||||
| BHB, mmol/L | 3700 | 0.54 | 0.289 | 2723 | 0.56 | 0.317 | 1918 | 0.59 | 0.298 | 1745 | 0.59 | 0.344 |
| NEFA, mEq/L | 3697 | 0.43 | 0.333 | 2733 | 0.36 | 0.271 | 1916 | 0.38 | 0.292 | 1731 | 0.39 | 0.307 |
| Feed efficiency and EB | ||||||||||||
| ECM/DMI 3, kg/kg | 8833 | 1.74 | 0.361 | 7499 | 1.79 | 0.341 | 4577 | 1.86 | 0.405 | 4528 | 1.85 | 0.402 |
| EB 4, MJ of ME/day | 8707 | −2.16 | 34.8 | 7415 | −4.71 | 40.4 | 4506 | −10.5 | 47.7 | 4487 | −10.5 | 49.5 |
1 ECM—energy-corrected milk; FPR—fat-to-protein ratio in milk; BHB—beta-hydroxybutyrate; NEFA—non-esterified fatty acids. 2 BW change represents the difference between current and previous measurement at each week postpartum. 3 Feed efficiency. 4 EB—energy balance estimated according to equations within ‘Feed into Milk’ [36].