Present experiment was conducted on sixty Murrah buffalo divided into three groups: lactating, involution stage/dry and pregnant stage (non-lactating early pregnant stage, non-lactating mid pregnant stage and non-lactating late pregnant stage). Most of the alveoli were spherical to oval elongated in shape. In lactating stage, only small and medium sized alveoli were present. In involuting stage due to degeneration and inactiveness only small alveoli were recorded. In non-lactating late pregnant stage most of the alveoli were large sized. A highly significant statistical difference was noted among different stages of lactation in the diameter of alveoli. The active alveoli were lined by cuboidal epithelium to low cuboidal epithelium, while resting alveoli were lined by squamous epithelium with dark nuclei. The number of resting alveoli were found increased with the advancement of lactation. Up to two months of involution most of the alveoli were degenerative. A highly significant statistical difference was noted in the height of alveolar epithelium in different stages of lactation.

The present study was conducted in buffaloes to determine the occurrence of subclinical mastitis and its diagnosis in relation to milk SCC and biochemical composition. The results showed that taking quarter foremilk (QFM) somatic cell count (SCC) threshold limit of LT 200*10**(3) cell for defining healthy quarters, 16.48 percent of buffaloes and 5.79 percent of quarters were positive for specific subclinical mastitis. In total, 57/363 (15.70 percent)of quarters were bacteriological positive with 21 (5.79 percent) representing specific and 36 (9.92 percent) latent infections. The major pathogen isolated were 28 (49 percent) coagulase-negative staphylococci followed by 16 (28 percent) S. aureus, 09 (16 percent) Streptococcus and 4(7 percent) Corynebacterium spp. The average QFM SCC was found as 52.50*10**(3) cells /ml for the quarter with no bacteria, and 356.51*10**(3) cell /ml for the quarters infected with one or the other bacteria (p LT 0.05). The milk electrical conductivity (EC), Fat and Lactoseshowed significant alterations with the quarter infection, the EC and Fat increased while Lactose decreased in infected quarters (p LT 0.05). The California mastitis test CMT) at cut off score of GT 0.5 for diseased quarters showed 68.75 percent sensitivity with 99.09 percent specificity. The EC with 87.50 percent sensitivity and 74.02 percent specificity and Lactose with 84.37 percent sensitivity and 66.16 percent specificity also showed significant (p LT 0.01) discrimination ability to differentiate healthy and mastitis quarters in buffaloes. The milk pH was not found to be a good parameter to identify diseased quarters.

The present study was designed to correlate the milk pH, somatic cell count (SCC), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities in buffalo milk with the udder health status. A total of 60 (Sixty) buffaloes were randomly selected irrespective of their age, breed, feeding practice, stage and season of lactation from the herd belonging to Purnadhadi buffalo unit, PGIVAS, Teaching Veterinary Clinical complex, PGIVAS, Veterinary Polyclinic, Akola and also buffaloes of farmers in and around Akola. After thorough clinical examination of each udder, about 30 ml of milk was collected in sterilized, clean, dry plastic bottles and after careful screening by CMT, categorized in normal, sub- clinical (1+), sub- clinical (2+), sub- clinical (3+) and clinical group containing 12 animals in each group. The pH was measured using a digital pH meter (E.I. Model 101E) and SCC was calculated in freshly collected milk. LDH and ALP activities were measured by spectrophotometric method. The milk pH, SCC, LDH and ALP activities were found proportional to the severity of the udder infection as detected by the CMT reactions.

Udder length, width and height are very important parameters to identify good dairy animals. Udder measurements including length, width and height on 437 Nili Ravi buffaloes were recorded before and after miking with 1180 records at 6 Experimental Stations in Punjab, Pakistan. Heritabilities were estimated using Best Linear Unbiased Prediction techniques. Environmental factors viz age of the buffalo at scoring, stage of lactation, parity, herd and season were included in the model. Least square means for udder length, width and height before milking were found as 52.65+-6.87, 53.52+-6.19 and 54.34+-4.99 cm and after milking as 47.08+-6.57, 48.15+-5.79 and 55.39+-5.15 cm, respectively. Heritability estimates for udder length, width and height before milking were found as 0.08+-0.07, 0.22+-0.08 and 0.22+-0.09, while after milking as 0.14+-0.07, 0.20+-0.08 and 0.09+-0.08, respectively. All the factors significantly affected before milking udder length. A significant effect of herd, parity, season of scoring and age on udder width before milking was observed. Herd, stage of lactation, parity and age of the buffalo at scoring significantly affected udder height before milking. Significant effect of herd, parity, stage of lactation and age of the buffaloes at classification on most of the traits suggest that managemental factors are important. Moderate heritability estimates for these udder traits provide a fair scope for improvement through selection and breeding which will help to increase milk yield in Nili Ravi buffaloes.