Bayesian analysis of Wood's lactation curve for Spanish dairy cows

A Bayesian procedure is presented to analyze test day performances in the scope of Wood's lactation function: atb (exp (-ct)), where a, b, and c = parameters, and t = time-dependent variable. The procedure has been applied to 148,557 test day controls corresponding to records for 15,349 first lactations of Spanish dairy cows. The procedure uses all available information and reduces the presence of atypical lactations. Moreover, the posterior marginal distribution of (co)variance components, breeding values, and systematic effects for the underlying variables of Wood's function are provided. The posterior means of the heritabilities were 0.43, 0.17, 0.40, and 0.29 for the parameters a (initial milk yield), b (ascent to peak), c (descent from peak), and total milk yield, respectively. Selection for total milk yield implies a great effect on the initial milk yield (a) but only minor effects on ascent to peak (b) and descent from peak (c).