Milk composition of Latvian Darkhead ewes during the lactation
2022
KairisaKairiša, Daina, Daina | GambicaGambīca, Edīte, Edite
Latvian Darkhead (LD) is a meat and wool producing sheep breed. The length of the lactation of the ewes is 3–4 months. The amount and the composition of ewes’ milk during suckling period is of great importance for the development and growth of lambs. The study on the composition of Latvian Darkhead ewes’ milk was conducted for the first time. Twenty five on average 3.68±0.47 year old LD sheep with on average 2.16±0.15 lambs in a litter were used in the study. Milk was sampled by hand milking, separately from the left and the right udder halves. The ewes were between the day 87 and 111 of lactation at the time of sampling. The milk samples contained on average 7.72±0.24% fat, 5.85±0.13% protein that included 4.37±0.10% casein, and 4.08±0.21% lactose. Fat content ranged from 2.77% to 10.69% (variation coefficient – 19.2%). In most cases (61.6%) fat content was between 7.1–9.0%. Protein content in milk had the smallest variation (variation coefficient – 14.8%), and it was between 5.1–7.0% for 88.9% of the milk samples. Somatic cell count (SCC) was also analysed. Similar to other livestock species, the SCC in sheep milk had a large variation (variation coefficient 190.6%), SCC on average was 2354.3±669.04×103 per mL. There were no significant differences in milk composition between the right and the left udder halves, but milk from the right udder half had a lower lactose content (3.87±0.33%) and a higher amount of SCC in milk (2876.8±1106.8×103 mLE−1), if compared with milk from the left udder half.
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