Fit of the Wood function to milk yield data collected by different recording systems in Mediterranean Italian buffalo.

The aim of this study was to check if two different recording systems utilized by AIA and a typical buffalo herd influence the lactation curve characteristics of dairy buffalo, such as peak yield and day to peak. Two different recording systems of milk yield data for 569 Mediterranean Italian buffalo primiparous farmed in the same herd were compared. The AIA's system (RS1), consisting in monthly collections of individual milk yield data, and the pedometer system (Dairy Plan C21-Westfalia) (RS2), consisting in daily collections of individual milk yield data, were compared. Lactation curves were obtained with the Wood function (1967). The different estimates of peak yield and day to peak obtained from the data collected with the two systems, indicate that the type of system may influence these two characteristics. The lower coefficient of determination from fitting the Wood function to the data collected with RS1 compared to that of data collected with RS2, also suggests that the second system may be more accurate. However, cumulative milk yields estimated at 270 days of lactation did not differ between the two systems.