Caracteres morfológicos y fisiológicos que afectan la aptitud al ordeño mecánico en ovejas de raza Manchega y Lacaune

Abstract

The objective of this project was to study the main aspects of milkability in 232 dairy Manchega (Mn) and Lacaune (Lc) ewes belonging to a different age groups and productivity. Two milkings par day were performed. Udder traits were measured before the evening milking, at 30, 60 and 120 days post-partum. To determine the area of the mammary gland and the production capacity in both breed, the ultrasonography method was used, as well as an oxytocin blocking agent for the study of the milk storage in the udder. Lc sheep showed a higher milk production, larger udder and shorter teats. Otherwise, Mn ewes showed a smaller udder and bigger teats. Mammary morphology traits in both breeds reached the maximum values in ewes of three or more lactations. Udder sizes traits decreased through lactation and were positively related to milk production. Udders with a larger cistern height tended to present smaller teats with higher insertion angle, which implies a worse milkability. Linear traits proposed were correlated to the descriptive morphological traits measured, and low related between them. Furthermore, the frequency of udder types evaluated following the typology proposed by Gallego et al. (1983) were high according to parity number, although it was not affected by the stage of lactation. Ultrasound cistern area and the amount of cisternal milk were larger in Lc sheep. These characters were correlated in both breeds as well as milk production and udder size. Results showed that mammary ultrasonography is an efficient method to evaluate the cistern size and the productive capacity of the ovine udder. The factor analysis showed that three factors (udder size, teat size and teat insertion angle and cistern height) explain an important amount of the variability. An new udder typology was proposed (clusters) for both breeds and presented enough differences to be grouped according to udder types characteristics of the breed, but there is any possibility to establish a universal udder classification. Udder types in our classification did show stability throughout lactation, but tended to evolve negatively as the age of the ewe increased. The study of milk partitioning showed that the milk superiority of Lc ewes depends on machine milk fraction and amount of cisternal milk. A positive relation of the cisternal milk and the milking machine fraction with the cisternal area was observed. The more frequent milk kinetics type was 2 peaks, reaching a similar proportion in both breeds. The in plateau type curve proposed showed larger volume and time of emission, without change in the milk flow. Positive correlation was observed in both breeds for total milk production, kinetic parameters, cisternal area and milk fractions. The use of an oxytocin antagonist is useful in order to obtain the real cisternal milk and to analyse the actual differences in milk partitioning of dairy sheep with fiability.