Dairy small ruminants account for approximately 21% of all sheep and goats in the world, produce around 3.5% of the world's milk, and are mainly located in subtropical-temperate areas of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Dairy sheep are concentrated around the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, where their dairy products are typical ingredients of the human diet. Dairy goats are concentrated in low-income, food-deficit countries of the Indian subcontinent, where their products are a key food source, but are also present in high-income, technologically developed countries. This review evaluates the status of the dairy sheep and goat sectors in the world, with special focus on the commercially and technically developed industries in France, Greece, Italy, and Spain (FGIS). Dairy small ruminants account for a minor part of the total agricultural output in France, Italy, and Spain (0.9 to 1.8%) and a larger part in Greece (8.8%). In FGIS, the dairy sheep industry is based on local breeds and crossbreeds raised under semi-intensive and intensive systems and is concentrated in a few regions in these countries. Average flock size varies from small to medium (140 to 333 ewes/farm), and milk yield from low to medium (85 to 216 L/ewe), showing substantial room for improvement. Most sheep milk is sold to industries and processed into traditional cheese types, many of which are Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) cheeses for gourmet and export markets (e.g., Pecorino, Manchego, and Roquefort). By comparing break-even milk price among FGIS countries, we observed the following: (1) most Greek and French dairy sheep farms were unprofitable, with the exception of the intensive Chios farms of Greece; (2) milk price was aligned with cost of production in Italy; and (3) profitable farms coexisted with unprofitable farms in Spain. In FGIS, dairy goat production is based on local breeds raised under more extensive systems than sheep. Compared with sheep, average dairy goat herds are smaller (36 to 190 does/farm) but milk yield is greater (153 to 589 L/doe), showing room for improvement. Goat milk is mainly processed on-farm into dairy products for national markets, but some PDO goat milk cheeses (e.g., Murcia al Vino) are exported. Processed goat milk is sold for local human consumption or dehydrated for export. Mixed sheep-goat (e.g., Feta) and cow-sheep-goat milk cheeses are common in many countries. Strategies to improve the dairy sheep and goat sectors in these 4 countries are proposed and discussed.

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Cisternal and alveolar milk fractions were measured in East Friesian crossbred dairy ewes (n = 32) after 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, or 24 h of milk accumulation in a 6 x 6 Latin square design by administration of an oxytocin receptor antagonist for recuperation of cisternal milk followed by injection of oxytocin to remove the alveolar fraction. Less than half (38 to 47%) of the total milk yield was stored within the cistern for the first 12 h of udder filling compared with up to 57% after 24 h of udder filling. Subsequent milk yield was significantly reduced following the 16-, 20-, and 24-h treatments. Cisternal milk fat percentage, but not milk protein percentage, was lower than in alveolar milk (4.49 vs. 7.92% milk fat, respectively), indicating that casein micelles pass more freely from the alveoli to the cistern between milkings compared with fat globules. Alveolar compared to cisternal somatic cell count was higher for the 16-, 20-, and 24-h treatments. Significant increases in cisternal milk yield and milk composition observed for the 24-h compared with the 20-h treatment demonstrated the importance of the cistern as a storage space when the alveoli and small intramammary ducts became full. The main difference between cisternal and alveolar milk fractions is the poor fat content of cisternal milk, which is an important reason for the milk ejection reflex to be present during machine milking of dairy ewes. In a second experiment, milking every 16 h compared with every 12 h during mid- to late-lactation did not effect milk yield, milk composition, and quality, or lactation length; however, a 25% savings in labor was achieved with the longer milking interval.

As ovine milk production increases in the United States, somatic cell count (SCC) is increasingly used in routine ovine milk testing procedures as an indicator of flock health. Ovine milk was collected from 72 East Friesian-crossbred ewes that were machine milked twice daily. The milk was segregated and categorized into three different SCC groups: < 100,000 (group I); 100,000 to 1,000,000 (group II); and > 1,000,000 cells/ ml (group III). Milk was stored frozen at -19 degrees C for 4 mo. Milk was then thawed at 7 degrees C over a 3-d period before pasteurization and cheese making. Casein (CN) content and CN-to-true protein ratio decreased with increasing SCC group 3.99, 3.97, to 3.72% CN, and 81.43, 79.72, and 79.32% CN to true protein ratio, respectively. Milk fat varied from 5.49, 5.67, and 4.86% in groups I, II, and III, respectively. Hard ewe's milk cheese was made from each of the three different SCC groups using a Manchego cheese manufacturing protocol. As the level of SCC increased, the time required for visual flocculation increased, and it took longer to reach the desired firmness for cutting the coagulum. The fat and moisture contents were lower in the highest SCC cheeses. After 3 mo, total free fatty acids (FFA) contents were significantly higher in the highest SCC cheeses. Butyric and caprylic acids levels were significantly higher in group III cheeses at all stages of ripening. Cheese graders noted rancid or lipase flavor in the highest SCC level cheeses at each of the sampling points, and they also deducted points for more body and textural defects in these cheeses at 6 and 9 mo.

East Friesian crossbred ewes (n = 99) and their lambs (n = 232) were used to study the effects of three weaning systems on milk production and lamb growth. Prior to parturition, a ewe and her lambs were assigned to one of the following three treatments for the first 28 +/- 3 d of lactation: 1) ewes weaned from their lambs at 24 h postpartum, ewes machine milked twice daily, and their lambs raised artificially (DY1); or 2) beginning 24 h postpartum, ewes separated from their lambs for 15 h during the evening, ewes machine milked once daily in the morning, and their lambs allowed to suckle for 9 h during the day (MIX); or 3) ewes not machine milked and exclusively suckled by their lambs (DY30). After the treatment period, lambs were weaned from MIX and DY30 ewes, and all three groups were machine milked twice daily. Daily commercial milk yield and milk composition were recorded weekly or twice monthly, and lambs were weighed at weaning or at 28 d and at approximately 120 d of age. Average lactation length (suckling + milking period) was 183 +/- 5 d and was similar among weaning systems. Differences among weaning systems for milk yield, milk fat and protein percentages, and somatic cell count were highly significant prior to and around weaning, and became nonsignificant by 6 wk in lactation. Total commercial milk production was greatest for DY1 and MIX ewes (261 +/- 10 and 236 +/- 10 kg/ewe, respectively) and least for DY30 ewes (172 +/- 10 kg/ewe). Daily gain of lambs to 30 d and weight at 30 d were similar regardless of weaning system; however, by 120 d, DY30 lambs tended to be heaviest, MIX lambs intermediate, and DY1 lambs lightest (47.3 +/- 1.6, 45.9 +/- 1.8, and 43.7 +/- 1.2 kg, respectively). Overall financial returns for milk and lamb sales were greatest for the MIX system because of the increase in marketable milk during the first 30 d of lactation compared with the DY30 system and because of acceptable 120-d lamb weights without the expenses of artificial rearing compared with the DY1 system. A mixed system of suckling and milking during early lactation appears to be a valuable management tool for dairy sheep production.