Genetic analysis of milk production and composition in crossbred ewes from different maternal genotypes

Milkproduction and milkcomposition were measured in 1056 crossbred ewes managed under pasture grazing in a lamb production system. Most ewes were milkedon three occasions at ~3, 4 and 12 weeks of lactation. The ewes were the progeny of mainly Merino dams and 91 siresfrom several maternal crossing breeds including Border Leicester, East Friesian, Finnsheep and Coopworth. The ewes were born over 3 years and run at three sites where they were joined naturally to meat rams. Most of the ewes were first parity (autumn-joined at 7 months of age and spring-joined at 14–17 months of age), with the remainder second or third parity. The cohorts of ewes and sites were linked genetically by three common maternal sires. The 4-h oxytocin-induced milkingprocedure was used to estimate daily milkproduction and milksamples were analysed for composition (fat%, protein% and lactose%). Daily milkyield and milkcomposition traits were analysed using restricted maximum likelihoodmixed models procedures. The sirebreed of crossbred ewes was significant for milkyield (P < 0.01), fat% (P < 0.01) and lactose% (P < 0.05). There was a significant (P < 0.01) interaction of sirebreed × days of lactation, mainly due to the relatively higher milkyield of the East Friesian and White Suffolk cross ewes compared with the other crosses, at the end of the lactation. The East Friesian cross ewes had lower milkfat% than the other cross ewes. Ewes suckling multiple lambs had 29% higher peak milkyield than those bearing and suckling single lambs (P < 0.001). There was an increase in peak milkyield of the ewes from first to second parity, and third parity ewes had a greater decline to the end of lactation causing a significant interaction (P < 0.001). The overall decline in milkyield from peak to late lactation was –21.2 ± 0.7 g/day. Separate analysis showed a significant increase in milkyield with ewe pre-joining weight (regression 6.1 ± 1.8 g/day.kg). The estimate of heritability for daily milkyield was 0.24 ± 0.04 at 90 days of lactation and 0.10 ± 0.02 at 21 days of lactation. The estimates of heritability for the milkcomposition traits were generally moderate. Estimates of genetic correlations between measurements early and late in the lactation for milkyield and most composition traits were high. The within ewe by stage variance component estimates of repeatability were moderate to high for milkyield, fat% and protein%, with lactose% being low.