Teat morphology across five buffalo breeds: a multi-country collaborative study

Study of the Milkability of the Mediterranean Italian Buffalo and the Tunisian Maghrebi Camel According to Parity and Lactation Stage

“…Findings related to milk yield revealed that Mediterranean Italian buffaloes have higher milk production than Tunisian Maghrebi Camels. In fact, the Mediterranean Italian buffalo is a specialised dairy breed recognised by the ANASB in Italy and subject to an official genetic selection programme for dairy traits [30], whereas the Maghrebi Camel has not yet been subject to any selection programme based on dairy traits or milkability.…”

“…As shown in Figure 1, buffaloes are characterised by limited flow and long TMT, which are basically associated with a long and tight teat streak canal. Teat canal length (TCL) recorded in the Mediterranean Italian breed ranged, on average, between 21.78 ± 0.74 mm and 23.6 ± 1.1 mm [30,37]. On the contrary, in camels, an immediate and short PPT and a very high PFR (Figure 3) were associated with a lower resistance of the teat sphincter and/or a larger diameter of the teat canal when fully open, allowing rapid emptying of the udder [27].…”

“…Besides teat anatomy [18,30], milking machine settings [16,31], milking routine [12,13,17,26], milking environment [12,13,27] and health status [2,31], parity and lactation stage significantly affect milk flow traits suggesting a particular treatment for primiparous animals or animalsin advancedstages of lactation [20,27,32]. Several studies reported that milk yield and milk flow rate are higher in Mediterranean Italian buffaloes at the third or fourth lactation [33,34].…”

“…In dairy animals, delayed milk ejection causes bimodal milk flow curves [24,36] with separate emission of cisternal and alveolar milk fractions, while a unique emission peak refers to an optimal stimulation and physiological oxytocin release. However, for anatomical and physiological reasons, animals with tight streak canals, such as buffaloes [17,30,37] or within some camels needing a high vacuum to open teat sphincters [38], a milk flow pattern with a delayed single emission peak is frequently observed. This could be explained by a tight closure of the teat canal that requires tactile stimulation and increased intramammary pressure to overcome the teat barrier rather than a higher vacuum level.…”

Some Welfare Assessment Traits and Quantitative-Qualitative Milk Parameters as Affected by Supplementary Feeding at Milking and Parity in Anatolian Buffalo Cows

“…The impact of parity on quantitative−qualitative milk parameters was quite variable, as observed in the literature; Verma et al [ 49 ] did not determine significant changes in these parameters, as in our study, while others observed an increase in milk components and milk yield [ 50 , 51 ]. The efficiency of the milking process in buffaloes is more affected by anatomical factors, especially teat morphology [ 26 ], and physiological differences are found between these species than between dairy cattle [ 43 , 52 , 53 ].…”