The present study was carried out to test the goodness of fit of different lactation curve functions for 7239 Caracu cows, belonging to Chiqueirão farm, Poços de Caldas - MG, weekly recorded from 1978 to 1988. The functions used to describe the lactation curves were: linear hyperbolic function (LHF); logarithmic quadratic function (LQF); incomplete gamma function (IGF) and inverse polynomial function (IPF). Parameters were estimated by iterative methods. The criteria used to compare the models were the adjusted coefficient of determination (R²A), Durbin-Watson statistic (DW) and the estimated means and standard deviations estimated for the parameters and function of parameters. All R²A were higher than 0.90 for the average curves. When fitted to individual lactation, the functions showed lack of fit. Goodness of fit, according to R²A>0.80 were observed for 25.2%; 39.1%; 31.1% and 28.4% of LHF, LQF, IGF and IPF functions, respectively. Durbin-Watson statistics estimated goodness of fit for 29.4%; 54.9%; 34.9% and 29.6% of LHF, LQF, IGF and IPF functions, respectively. All models showed high CV for the parameters and function of parameters. The results indicated a wide variation in the shape of individual lactation curves. There was a great number of atypical curves with observed peaks before calving or after the end of lactation.
Cattle; milk yield; peak production; persistency
