Effect of pre-stimulation on milk flow pattern and distribution of milk constituents at a quarter level

Abstract

Only the milk stored in the cisternal part of the udder is available for machine milking before milk ejection. Due to a high portion of milk stored in the alveolar part (more than 80%) the occurrence of milk ejection induced by tactile stimulation of the udder before milking is required for complete and fast milk removal. The normal milking liner pulsation also induces the milk ejection reflex during milking. However, the full milking vacuum after the removal of cisternal milk and before milk ejection causes the occurrence of bimodal milk flow curves and often a prolongation of milking time at simultaneously reduced milk flow rates (Bruckmaier and Blum, 1998) resulting in a higher risk of mastitis incidences (Rittershaus et al., 2001).The effect of tactile stimulation on the milk flow profile is mainly studied at the whole udder level (Bruckmaier and Blum, 1996). However, the most effective study to see the effects of milk ejection reflex on milk flow should be done at a quarter level (Tančin et al., 2003(Tančin et al., , 2006. Recently we have found a positive relationship between the duration of the decline phase of milk flow and somatic cell counts (Tančin et al., 2002). In the case of bimodal quarter milk flow a longer duration of the decline phase occurred as compared with non-bimodal curves (Tančin et al., 2005). However, there is no detailed study on how premilking stimulation influences the duration of the decline phase. The composition of milk including SCC changes in the course of milking (Bruckmaier et al., 2004). The milk ejection reflex induced before milking by tactile pre-stimulation could also influence the composition of milk in the course of milking. We expect that the pre-stimulation of the udder will improve the distribution of milk constituents during milking, which could be exactly described at a quarter level.The aim of this study was to investigate the milk flow patterns and the composition of milk in the Effect of pre-stimulation on milk flow pattern and distribution of milk constituents at a quarter level ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate milk flow patterns and milk composition in relation to premilking udder stimulation. The milk of one quarter of each of the sixteen cows was removed separately and in the course of milking it was divided into six fractions (P -cisternal milk during milking without stimulation and the first 300 ml during milking with pre-stimulation, 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, 75-100%, 75-100%, MS-machine stripping) and into five portions (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, 100% + MS). Two milkings were performed during two consecutive evening milkings with or without manual stimulation. Pre-stimulation resulted in a reduction of milking time, duration of the increase and decline phase of milk flow, stripping yield, but it increased the peak flow rate as compared to milking without pre-stimulation (P < 0.05). In both fractions and portions the content of fat increased steadily during milking and reached a maximum at MS. Lactose increased from P to 50-75% and then it decr...

Short communication: Fractional milking distribution of immunoglobulin G and other constituents in colostrum

“…This increase has been reported in many studies (Ontsouka et al, 2003;Bruckmaier et al, 2004;Sarikaya et al, 2005;Tan in et al, 2007). It is likely that the fat droplets, which are delimited by lipoprotein membranes, are held back by capillary forces in the alveoli and through adhesive forces on the udder epithelium during the process of milking.…”

“…Hostetler et al (2003) showed that a hand-stripped post-milking-machine sample of colostrum exhibited lower IgG concentration (P < 0.05) than a hand premilking sample (10 mL) as well as the remaining milking machine fraction. Studies of colostrum fractionation from d 2 (Ontsouka et al, 2003) and of mature milk (Ontsouka et al, 2003;Bruckmaier et al, 2004;Sarikaya et al, 2005;Tan in et al, 2007) found that milk composition changes during the course of milking, which corresponds to a continuous character of milk ejection during milk removal (Bruckmaier et al, 1994;Bruckmaier and Blum, 1998). Thus, the concept that colostrum composition could also be different during the first milking remained unclear.…”

“…Because cows release oxytocin during calving, it can be assumed that milk ejection occurs, which would cause blending of low-fat cisternal milk with some small amount of the high-fat alveolar milk. Tan in et al (2007) showed that the increase in fat concentration during milking proceeded more smoothly when premilking udder stimulation was applied.…”

Comparison of the effects of quarter-individual and conventional milking systems on milkability traits

“…Sandrucci et al (2007) described a short tAN (0.89±0.47 min) that showed a wide variability similar to the present results for cows milked conventionally. Pre-stimulation positively influences the parameters of milk flow and therefore the efficiency of milk removal (Tančin et al 2007a). The tPL detected by Zucali et al (2009) was on average 2.8±1.7 min and decrease phase (tAB) showed an excessive duration of 2.5±1.3 min, which was in line with results detected by Sandrucci et al (2007).…”

Physiology of lactation and machine milking in dromedary she-camel

“…Consequently, the milk ejection is delayed and reduced the milk flow. This leads to bimodal milk flow curves (Tancin et al, 2007). In primiparous cows, manual stimulation may fail to induce milk ejection and milk ejection is disturbed for several weeks immediately after parturition, if the animals do not adapt to the machine milking (Bruckmaier et al, 1992;.…”