The effects of milking method and post-milking suckling on ewe milk production and lamb growth

Abstract

Summary &mdash; The effects of milking method (machine milking, machine milking and hand stripping, hand milking) and of post-milking suckling on milk yield and milk fat percentage of Chios ewes were investigated in 2 separate trials over a 5-wk period following weaning at 6 wks of age. The effects of post-milking suckling and creep feeding versus creep feeding alone on the growth of lambs were also examined over the same period. Differences in the commercial milk (kg per ewe over the experimental period) between milking/rearing methods in trial 1 (machine milking, 51.5; machine milking and hand stripping, 58.3; machine milking and suckling, 52.3) and in trial 2 (machine milking, 67.5; machine milking and suckling, 66.8; hand milking, 71.4; hand milking and suckling, 69.7) were not significant (P > 0.05). In addition to the commercial milk, ewes suckling their lambs after milking produced between 18.8 and 22.4 kg/ewe,. and differences in total milk (commercial plus suckled yield) between milking/rearing methods in each trial were significant (P < 0.05). In both trials, machine milked ewes sucking their lambs for 10-15 min after the morning and afternoon milkings, had a reduced fat content of commercial milk compared with ewes in the other treatment groups. In trial 2, following a post milking intravenous injection of oxytocin (2 IU), ewes on the post milking suckling treatments produced significantly more milk than those on the non-suckling treatments (0.44 vs 0.17 kg/ewe, respectively). In trial 1, the growth of the post-milking suckling group of lambs was 11.5% higher than that of the non-suckling group, while in trial 2, no treatment differences were observed in the growth of lambs.milking method / suckling after milking / milk production / lamb growth sont pas significativement affectés par la méthode de traite (P > 0,05). Mais, en plus du lait commercial, les brebis qui sont tétées par leurs agneaux après la traite, produisent entre 18.8 8 et 22.4 kglbrebis de lait supplémentaire. Ainsi, la production laitière totale (lait commercial + lait tété) deviennent elles significativement différentes, qu'il s'agisse de l'essai 1 ou de l'essai 2 (P < 0,05). Toutefois, dans les deux essais, les brebis tétées par leurs agneaux après les traites du matin et de l'après-midi, produisent un lait commercial moins riche en matières grasses. Le lait résiduel obtenu au cours de l'essai 2 après une injection intraveineuse de 2 UI d'ocytocine s'avère être supérieur chez les brebis tétées après la traite (0,44 kglbrebis) contre 0,17 kglbrebis chez celles qui ne le sont pas). Enfin, au cours de l'essai 1, la croissance des agneaux ayant été après la traite a été amélio-rée de 11,5% par rapport à celle du groupe totalement sevré, mais cette amélioration na pas été constatée au cours de l'essai 2. méthode de traite / tétée après la traite / production laitière des brebis / croissance des agneaux

The influence of lamb rearing system on ewe milk and lamb growth traits in dairy sheep

“…Consequently, milking machine captured their cisternal milk but not alveolar milk, in which most of fat is present. Papachristoforou (1990) reported that Chios ewes suckled by their lambs showed some ability to withhold a certain amount of milk which is released only when ewes are stimulated by the presence of lambs. This author studied fat percentages in ewes of various lamb rearing systems between day 43 and day 77 after parturition; these were found higher in machine milked ewes permanently separated from their lambs than in machined (or hand) milked ewes suckled by their lambs for 5 to 10 min, having audiovisual (i.e., no direct) contact with offspring.…”

“…Some benefits in terms of lamb growth intensity (Papachristoforou, 1990) in mixed treatment was reported, nevertheless, extra labour involved and stress on mother/offspring of joining and separating, together with an effect on milk fat should be taken into account when deciding whether this treatment is introduced. Peters and Heaney (1974) reported that difference between weights of lambs not separated from ewes and lambs separated from ewes at age of 35 days was significant (i.e., not separated lambs made better gains at early life than separated lambs).…”

“…In an effort to maximize amount of milk which can be sold, various lamb rearing systems could be applied (Papachristoforou, 1990;Gargouri et al, 1993;McKusick et al, 2001;Dikmen et al, 2007). Besides artificially raised lambs on milk replacer, diet with ewes exclusively milked almost from the beginning of lactation and traditionally raised lambs suckling ewe milk (weaned from 30 to 60 days of age) with ewes milked only in post-weaning period, mixed lamb rearing systems with lambs enabled to suckle ewes and ewes milked in pre-weaning period were introduced (Knight et al, 1993;Dikmen et al, 2007).…”

Effect of weaning system on lamb growth and commercial milk production of Awassi dairy sheep

“…Several mixed systems for early lactation management of ewes allowing both suckling and milking were also reported (Papachristoforou, 1990;McKusick et al, 2001). During the first 30 days of lactation a dairy ewe produces quite an important amount of total lactation milk yield (Folman et al, 1966); it is the period when lambs are typically allowed to suckle their dams.…”

Effects of restricted nursing on milk production and collection, kid growth and plasma prolactin and growth hormone concentrations in dairy goats

“…A positive effect of the presence of the calf on PRL release has also been reported in nursing cows by Perez et al (1985), although not by others (Akers and Lefcourt, 1984). In small dairy ruminants, maintaining some mother-young interaction during lactation also appears to have beneficial effects on milk production: when milking is combined with restricted mother-young contact in goats and sheep, it does not significantly reduce the quantity of milk obtained by milking (Folman et al, 1966;Morag et al, 1970;Hadjipanayiotou, 1985;Papachirtoforou, 1990;Peris et al, 1997), and can even lead to a higher milk collection (Hadjipanayiotou and Louca, 1976). However, to our knowledge the possible beneficial consequences of maintaining some mother-young contact on milk production in goats, when the udder is emptied by milking only once daily, have not been investigated in previous research.…”