scholarly journals Milk yield and somatic cells in dairy ewes with respect to their mutual relations

10.5219/1309 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 224-229
Author(s):  
Marta Oravcová ◽  
Kristína Tvarožková ◽  
Vladimír Tančin ◽  
Michal Uhrinčať ◽  
Lucia Mačuhová

The objective of this study was to analyze milk yield and somatic cell count (SCC) expressed as somatic cell sore (SCS) in Lacaune dairy breed. Data from milk performance testing recorded between 2016 and 2018 (farm in West Slovakia) were used. A total, 377 individual milk yield and SCC records of 61 ewes (first, second and third lacation, respectively) were analysed. Mixed model for milk yield included fixed factors: SCC class (lowest, low, middle, high and highest), year of measurement, lactation number, month in milk and interaction between month in milk and SCC class, and random factors of ewe and error. Mixed model for SCS included milk yield class (lowest, low, middle, high, highest), year of measurement, lactation number, month in milk and interaction between month in milk and milk yield class. Random factors of ewe and error were considered as well. Milk yield was significantly affected ( p <0.05 or p <0.01) by all investigated factors. Except for interaction between month in milk and milk yield class, the remaining factors significantly affected (p <0.05 or p <0.01) also SCS. The analyses confirmed that SCC may be used as a useful indicator of udder health. It may help in identifying infected ewes, and thus, avoiding mammary infections to be spread throughout the whole flock.

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (15) ◽  
pp. 1830
Author(s):  
Beata Sitkowska ◽  
Dariusz Piwczyński ◽  
Magdalena Kolenda

Context Some milking parameters such as milk yield, milk flow, milking duration, milk conductivity and somatic-cell count can all be listed as economically important traits in dairy practice. Aims The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships among lactation stage, lactation number, milking season and milk-performance traits at an udder-quarter level, including somatic-cell count (SCC), milk yield (MY), milking duration (MD), time in box (TB), milk flow (MF) and milk conductivity (MC). An additional aim was to analyse milking-parameter levels in milkings with a SCC lower and higher than 400000 cells/mL. Methods The study included an analysis of 1621582 successful milkings obtained from six herds of dairy cattle equipped with milking robots (AMS). Key results The study confirmed that MD and MY differed greatly between front and rear quarters. Rear quarters took longer to be milked but produced more milk. During the first 100 days of lactation, the primiparous cows spent more time in the robot than did multiparous cows; however, in the second and third lactations, older cows were spending more time in the AMS. For primiparous cows, MF increased with time, being the highest at the end of lactation (&gt;200 days in milk). A different trend has been found in the group of multiparous cows, where a steady decrease in MF was observed with subsequent lactation stages. A lower MC was recorded for cows in their first lactation than for multiparous cows. Data obtained from primiparous cows showed the highest MC to occur between 100 and 200 days of lactation. In the group of multiparous cows, MC increased with the lactation stage. It was also shown that the mean values obtained for MY, MD and TB were higher for cows with a lower SCC (&lt;400000). Correlations between lnSCC (the natural logarithm of SCC) and MY and between lnSCC and MD were negative and low, while those between lnSCC and MC and lnSCC and MF were positive. Moderate correlations were found between lnSCC and total MC. Conclusions The study confirmed the differences in the performance of different udder quarters in relation to MY, MD, TB, MF, MS and SCC. Implications AMS provides farmers with vast data on milk and milking parameters. By monitoring changes in these parameters, farmer may be able to predict the level of production of their herd and the health of cows.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1796
Author(s):  
Michaela Brzáková ◽  
Jana Rychtářová ◽  
Jindřich Čítek ◽  
Zuzana Sztankóová

Milk production is influenced by many factors, including genetic and environmental factors and their interactions. Animal health, especially udder health, is usually evaluated by the number of somatic cells. The present study described the effect of polymorphisms in the ACACA, BTN1A1, LPL, and SCD genes on the daily milk yield, fat, and protein percentages and somatic cell count. In this study, 590 White Shorthaired (WSH) and Brown Shorthaired (BSH) goats were included. SNP genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP and multiplex PCR followed by SNaPshot minisequencing analysis. The linear mixed model with repeated measurement was used to identify the genetic associations between the studied genes/SNPs and chosen traits. All selected genes were polymorphic in the tested goat populations and showed significant associations with milk traits. Only BTN1A1 (SNP g.599 A > G) showed a significant association with the somatic cell score. After Bonferroni correction, a significant effect of LPL g.300G > A on daily milk yield and fat percentage, LPL g.185G > T on protein percentage, and LPL G50C, SCD EX3_15G > A, and SCD EX3_68A > G on fat percentage was found. The importance of environmental factors, such as the herd-year effect, month of milking, and lactation order on all milk performance indicators was confirmed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (04) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Hamedy ◽  
Oliver Passarge ◽  
Axel Sobiraj ◽  
Markus Freick ◽  
Yvonne Frank ◽  
...  

Summary Objective of this study was the improvement of selected parameters of udder health by mastitis vaccination in a dairy herd with elevated bulk milk somatic cell counts and Staphylococcus (S.) aureus as predominant mastitis causing pathogen. Material and methods: On a dairy farm, pregnant heifers (status group [SG] 1; n = 181) as well as cows stratified for their udder health state (classification based on results of cytobacteriological investigations of quarter milk samples obtained before dry cow therapy [MS0]) (SG 2–4; n = 416) were randomly assigned to one of the following vaccination groups (VG): Startvac® (VG SV), Bestvac® Rind Mastitis (containing herd-specific S. aureus-strains; VG BV) and the unvaccinated control (VG Co, placebo), respectively. The collected data (5 [MS5] and 52 [MS52] days in milk [DIM]: quarter milk somatic cell count [QSCC] and bacteriological investigation of quarter milk samples; dairy herd improvement test [DHIT] days 1–10: milk yield and individual cow somatic cell count; until 305 DIM: clinical mastitis cases) were compared between the VG within their SG. Results: S. aureus prevalences were significantly lower in VG SV (p < 0.001) and VG BV (p = 0.006) within SG 3 and in VG SV (p = 0.008) within SG 4, respectively, in comparison to VG Co. Milk yields (DHIT days [p = 0.042] and 305-day milk yield [p = 0.040]) were significantly less in VG SV within SG 4 compared to VG Co. Significant different changes over time in comparison to VG Co indicating a vaccine effect during lactation were only observed for QSCC within SG 4 for VG BV (p = 0.017; increase towards MS52) and for S. aureus prevalence within SG 3 for VG BV (p < 0.001; opposing trends from MS0 towards MS52). All other interactions of time and VG under investigation were not significant in any of the SG. Furthermore, there were no descriptive differences in the incidence of clinical mastitis and duration of a necessary mastitis therapy, respectively, between the VG within their SG. Conclusion: In this field study, the application of two different mastitis vaccines was not an appropriate tool to improve the considered parameters of udder health sustainably.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3485
Author(s):  
Maddalena Zucali ◽  
Luciana Bava ◽  
Alberto Tamburini ◽  
Giulia Gislon ◽  
Anna Sandrucci

Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) record a lot of information, at udder and quarter level, which can be useful for improving the early detection of altered udder health conditions. A total of 752,000 records from 1003 lactating cows milked with two types of AMS in four farms were processed with the aim of identifying new indicators, starting from the variables provided by the AMS, useful to predict the risk of high milk somatic cell count (SCC). Considering the temporal pattern, the quarter vs. udder percentage difference in milk electrical conductivity showed an increase in the fourteen days preceding an official milk control higher than 300,000 SCC/mL. Similarly, deviations over time in quarter vs. udder milk yield, average milk flow, and milking time emerged as potential indicators for high SCC. The Logistic Analysis showed that Milk Production Rate (kg/h) and the within-cow within-milking percentage variations of single quarter vs. udder milk electrical conductivity, milk yield, and average milk flow are all risk factors for high milk SCC. The result suggests that these variables, alone or in combination, and their progression over time could be used to improve the early prediction of risk situations for udder health in AMS milked herds.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Piotr Guliński ◽  
Krzysztof Wyszomierski ◽  
Ewa Salamończyk

The average somatic cell count in the milk analysed was 326,000 cells/ml. For the 4 groups of cows distinguished in the study, with daily milk yield of ≤15 kg, 15-25 kg, 25-35 kg and >35 kg, the somatic cell count was 771,000, 393,000, 240,000 and 180,000 cells/ml, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in the somatic cell count in milk from cows with different productivity. A highly significant correlation coefficient was obtained for the daily milk yield of the cows and the somatic cell count in the milk (r=−0.81). The negative coefficient indicates that an increase in the quantity of milk was accompanied by a decrease in the somatic cell count in the milk. The regression equation obtained suggests that in the study population a decline in somatic cell count of 100,000 cells/ml was accompanied by an increase in daily milk yield of 3.8 kg. The analysis showed that there is a negative correlation between SCC and milk yield of cows. An increase in milk yield was found to be accompanied by a decrease in the number of somatic cells in 1 ml of milk, which indicates an improvement in its quality.


2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-258
Author(s):  
P. Kremer ◽  
S. Nüske ◽  
A. M. Scholz ◽  
M. Förster

Abstract. Title of the paper: Effect of soft flooring in free stalls on milk yield, fat, protein and somatic cell counts in dairy cattle Research conducted at the Experimental Farm Oberschleißheim focused on comparing milk yield, fat, protein and somatic cell counts in dairy cattle housed in free stalls with concrete slatted floor and rubber mats covering the concrete slatted floor. Data were collected from 49 cows in 53 lactation periods, which were divided into experimental group (n = 26) on rubber matted floor (EBG) and control group (n = 27) on concrete slatted floor (BBG). Housing conditions of both groups differed in kind of cubicles. EBG had soft rubber mat mattresses, BBG had cubicles with straw manure mattresses. Data analysed originated from the official milk performance testing of the "Landeskuratorium der Erzeugerringe für tierische Veredelung in Bayern e.V." and from activity counters worn by the cows. Statistical analysis resulted in a significant higher activity level of the EBG versus BBG. Milk yield and protein showed no significant difference between both groups, fat was significant higher in BBG. Somatic cell counts were significant lower in EBG. Data analysed regarding activity level classes showed a trend of decreasing milk yield and milk constituents with increasing activity. No evidence was found that soft floor results in higher milk yield. But a higher activity level of EBG cows might indicate a higher cow comfort on elastic floor.


2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (5-6-1) ◽  
pp. 209-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mijic ◽  
I. Knezevic ◽  
M. Matkovic ◽  
M. Baban ◽  
Z. Ivkic

A high milk production, time limited milking and healthy udders are priority tasks at milking farms. The aim of our research was to study how different ways of keeping (free rang and tying) and milking (milking parlour, bucket machine and pipeline milking) influence on the mentioned cattle characteristics. Investigation was conducted at four milking farms and 382 Holstein cows in eastern Croatia. The variance analysis has shown significant difference (P<0,05) among researched farms for the milk yield per milking (MYM), the somatic cell count (LSCC) and the maximum milk flowing rate (MFR). Farms at which cows were kept and milked bound up in stables had more problems with udder health than farms at which milking was conducted at milking places. Also at these farms (at which cows were kept and milked bound up in stables) the maximum milk flowing rate was uneven, what was caused by uneven vacuum and obsoletes milking equipment. Keeping cows free at the stable and milking at a milking place have appeared to be more appropriate for cow?s udder health, what finally influences a higher milking production. Such farms should be the future of modern milking production in Croatia.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2006 ◽  
pp. 86-86
Author(s):  
G Wellwood ◽  
J K Margerison

Mastitis is a complex disease causing inflammation of the udder, which has been estimated to cost the dairy farmer between £40-£117/cow per year (Stott et al., 2002). Economic loss occurs as a result of discarded milk, reduced milk yield and milk quality, increased vet costs and an increase in replacement costs. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of breed on the incidence of mastitis and somatic cell counts and milk production capabilities of Holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss and Brown Swiss crossbred cows.


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