author(s)
V Praveen, M Narayana Swamy, GP Kalmath, MK Vinuthan and Narasimhamurthy, SR Bellur and KB Sathisha

abstract
Present study was undertaken to determine various milk components during different weeks of lactation in different breeds of cattle. Three groups comprised of Amrit Mahal, Holstein Friesian crossbred and Jersey crossbred cows with six animals in each group, respectively. Milk samples collected during three consecutive months with monthly intervals was utilized for determination of milk components like lactose, protein, fat and solids-not-fat using lactoscan milk analyser. The milk lactose, protein and solids-not-fat were significantly higher in Amrit Mahal at Eighth week of lactation compared to crossbred cows. The milk yield (Kg/day) was significantly higher in crossbred cows compared to Amrit Mahal cows. It is concluded that the variations in milk components during different weeks of lactation could be attributed to differences in the metabolic profile of the mammary gland to synthesize various milk components and variation with respect to breeds might be due to genetic inheritability of the dairy cows.