Factors influencing the production of milk from pastoral cattle herds in Kenya

The Maasai of Kenya ave typical of many pastoral communities in that they r ely on milk as a major part of their diet. Milk production in three herds o f Maasai cattle was studied from 1991 to 1996. Weekly measurements of milk extracted for human consumption were used to estimate lactation length, tot al offtake and mean daily production. Calf live-weight data were used to es timate total milk yield. Least-mean squares regression and analysis of vari ance tests were adopted to assess the effect of a number of variables on mi lk production parameters. Data from a fetal of 650 lactations and 383 calvings were collected. Mean d aily offtake was 891 ml. The length of lactation of frequently milked cows was 372 (s.e. 7.96) days. Total lactation offtake was estimated at 305 l. H erd, parity level and year of calving differences were observed. Multiple r egression analyses indicated that some of the variation in daily offtake co uld be explained by stage of lactation, season of milking, herd, parity and year of calving. An average total yield of 2.73 l/day was estimated for th e first 90 days of lactation. Of this, approximately 0.4 was used for human consumption. Overall, seasonality was seen as the major variable influenci ng production.