Morfologija vimena, proizvodnja mlijeka i zdravlje mliječne žlijezde malih preživača

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing trend in research of sheep and goat udder morphology, not only from the view of its suitability for machine milking, but also in terms of milk yield and mammary gland health. More precisely, herds consisting of high-yielding sheep and goats as a result of long-term and one-sided selection to increase milk yield, have been characterised by distortion of the udder morphology caused by increasing the pressure of udder weight on its suspensory system. Along with the deteriorated milking traits, which is negatively reflected on the udder health, some udder morphology traits are often emphasized as factor of production longevity of dairy sheep and goats. Since the intention of farmers and breeders nowadays is to increase the milk yield of sheep and goats while maintaining desirable udder morphology and udder health, the aim of this paper is to give a detailed overview of the current knowledge about the relationship of morphological udder traits with milk yield, and the health of the mammary gland of sheep and goats. External measures of udder size (circumference, width and depth of the udder) are strongly correlated with milk production in sheep and goats. The morphological udder traits determining its suitability for machine milking (such as teat position and teat angle, udder depth, teat size, cistern height) are related to the mammary gland health in sheep and goats. Thus, the incidence of mastitis is noticeably higher in the udders of unsuitable shape for machine milking (deep and hung udders, unfavourable position of teats, etc.). Consequently, the morphological udder traits that affect the milkability of sheep and goats are indirectly related to milk yield.

Machine Milkability of Dromedary Camels: Correlation between Udder Morphology and Milk Flow Traits

“…It has been shown that udder and teat morphologies are very heritable [1] and have direct repercussion on machine milking ability in dairy cattle [2][3][4][5][6], in dairy ewes [7][8][9][10][11][12] and dairy goats [13][14][15][16]. It has been also demonstrated that improving udder morphology and milkability traits lead to a better udder health and longevity of several dairy species [6,[17][18][19]. However, little information is available on camels' milkability.…”

Amiata donkey body conformation, udder characteristics, and their relationship with milk yield and quality

“…Studies on the relation between measurements and milk quality parameters regard ruminants and mostly goats (Vrdoljak et al 2020) and have shown that the udder size is correlated with some milk components.…”

“…Machine milking reduces the milking time and creates better working conditions for the farmers (Gelasakis et al 2012). The conformation of the udders and teats of dairy animals is an important indicator of the aptitude for mechanical milking (Vrdoljak et al 2020). It affects the efficiency of the milking and milkability, and thus the aptitude of an animal to give a regular, complete, and rapid milk secretion in response to an appropriate milking technique.…”

“…Udder morphology is therefore related to milk production traits in dairy species and has received particular attention in ruminants (Akdag et al 2017;Vrdoljak et al 2020;Tuliozi et al 2021), lesser for donkeys (D'alessandro et al 2015).…”

“…The distribution of milk in the udder also affects the milk composition. In dairy ruminants, correlations have been found between udder size and the content of some milk constituents (Akdag et al 2017;Vrdoljak et al 2020).…”