Short-term effects of milking frequency on milk yield, milk composition, somatic cell count and milk protein profile in dairy goats

Abstract

Goats in Canary Islands are milked once a day by tradition, but in most countries with high technology on farms, goats are milked twice a day, which is known to improve milk yield. Therefore it is important to know whether the increase of milking frequency can improve the production without impairing milk quality. The objective of this study was to investigate the short term effects of three milking frequencies on milk yield, milk composition, somatic cell count (SCC) and milk protein profile in dairy goats traditionally milked once a day. Twelve Majorera goats in early lactation (48±4 d in milk) were used. During a 5-week period, goats were milked once a day (X1) in weeks 1 and 5, twice a day (X2) in weeks 2 and 4, and three times a day (X3) in week 3. Milk recording and sampling were done on the last day of each experimental week. Milk yield increased by 26% from X1 to X2. No differences were obtained when goats were switched from X2 to X3, and from X3 to X2. The goats recovered the production level when they returned to X1. Different patterns of changes in the milk constituents due to the milking frequency effect were observed. Fat percentage increased when switched from X1 to X2, then decreased from X2 to X3, and from X3 to X2, whereas it did not show significant differences from X2 to X1. Milking frequency did not affect the protein and lactose percentages. SCC values were unaffected when goats were milked X1, X2 and X3, but then they increased slightly when milking frequency was returned to X2 and X1. Finally, quantitative analysis showed an increase in intensities of milk protein bands from X1 to X2, but the intensities of casein bands (α(S1)-CN, α(S2)-CN, β-CN, κ-CN) and major whey proteins (α-La, β-Lg) decreased from X2 to X3.

Influence of the Use of Milk Replacers and pH on the Texture Profiles of Raw and Cooked Meat of Suckling Kids

“…On average, the goat’s milk in this study had a higher content of fat and protein than those reported by other authors using comparable breeds [26,27,28,29,30,31,32]. However, the milk had similar lactose levels to those reported by several authors [26,28,30], but lower levels than those reported by others [29,31,33].…”

The comparison of the lactation and milk yield and composition of selected breeds of sheep and goats

“…The variation in MY and milk composition among different breeds of sheep and goats has been observed by several authors. Such factors include genetics ( Clark and Sherbon, 2000 ; Greyling et al, 2004 ; Koutsouli et al, 2017 ; Lôbo et al, 2017 ; Montaldo et al, 2010 ; Salvador et al, 2016 ); nutrition ( Baldin et al, 2014 ; Bernard et al, 2009 ; Bernard et al, 2012 ; Carnicella et al, 2008 ; Catunda et al, 2016 ); parity and number of lambs born ( Ahuya et al, 2009 ; Carnicella et al, 2008 ; Salvador et al, 2016 ); days after parturition ( Koutsouli et al, 2017 ); milking frequency ( Koutsouli et al, 2017 ; Kremer and Rosés, 2016 ; Torres et al, 2014 ); environmental conditions ( Arias et al, 2012 ; Peana et al, 2017 ); and other physiological status ( Caroprese et al, 2010 ).…”

Keçi Sütü Somatik Hücre Sayısının Vanilyalı Dondurmanın Bazı Fiziksel, Kimyasal ve Duyusal Özellikleri Üzerine Etkileri

“…It was reported that no histological and pathological differences in the mammary glands or other evidence of mastitis were detected on fresh udder half tissues of goats with low (950.000 cells/mL), medium (1.500.000 cells/mL), and high (3.300.000 cells/mL) SCC. The SCC in goat milk may be affected by numerous factors such as stage of lactation, estrus, milking routine (13,14). Therefore, regardless of intramammary infection status, high SCC in raw goat milk, which result in low fat content, might have cause economical losses during ice cream manufacture.…”