Aseel Muntasir AbuZaid 1, Mufeed A Alnimer 1*, Mohamed A Abedal-Majed 1, Mohammed M Ababneh 2 and Ahmad I Shamoun 1
1Department of Animal Production, School of Agriculture, the University of Jordan, Amman, 11942, Jordan; 2Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Science and Technology, Jordan
*Corresponding author: amufeed@ju.edu.jo
Optimizing early-lactation milk yields while maintaining high reproductive efficiency remains a major management challenge in high-producing dairy herds. This study evaluated the effects of an intensive milking regimen (6x vs. 3x daily) during the first 21 days postpartum, combined with anti-inflammatory administration after timed artificial insemination (TAI), on milk production and reproductive efficiency in Holstein cows. Forty Holstein cows were assigned to either 6x or 3x milking for 21 days before reverting to a standard 3x schedule. All cows followed a Double Ovsynch (DO) protocol for TAI with sex-sorted semen. Cows in the milking group were further subdivided into two groups receiving an anti-inflammatory injection on day 16 post-TAI. Data collected included daily milk yield (90 days), 305-day total yield, body condition scores (BCS), milk composition, progesterone (P4) and prolactin (PRL) concentrations, and pregnancy. BCS did not differ significantly between groups. Daily milk yields were comparable at 33.75 ± 0.8 kg for the 6x group and 34.27 ± 0.8 kg for the 3x group during the first 21 days postpartum. However, the 6x group had a significantly higher total milk yield over 305 days (11,555 kg vs. 11,008 kg, P = 0.04) and Lower total solids content (12.13 ± 0.12 vs. 12.49 ± 0.12, P<0.05). The administration of anti-inflammatory drugs failed to enhance pregnancy outcomes and was associated with a numerical decline in pregnancy rates within the 6x milking group. Second-parity cows showed higher conception rates, particularly in the 3x group. Increasing milking frequency to 6x during early lactation enhances long-term milk production without compromising cow welfare or milk composition. Post-TAI anti-inflammatory treatment does not appear to provide a reproductive advantage.