Impact of housing conditions and milking practices on udder health and milk quality in dairy cows in Tunisia

摘要

Thestudyoftheinfluenceofsomehousingconditionsandpracticesoftraffickingonudderhealth(subclinicalmastitis)indairycowsandestimationoflossesinmilkproductionassociatedwithhighcellcountswereperformedonasampleof16dairyfarmsintheregionofBizerteinTunisia.Dataonhousing,cleanlinessandtraffickingwerecollectedinasurveyandtheresultsofanalysisofsamplesofmilkandmilkmixturecontrolstheOfficeoftheLivestockandPasturemade#8203;#8203;inSeptember(2012)andApril(2013).Furthermore,thehealthstatusoftheudderwasevaluatedbycellnumberingmilkmixture.Itshowsthattheaveragecellrateherd(TCT)is611.430±279.160cells/mlofmilkandtheindividualcellcounts(ICC)of630.570±151.230cells/mlofmilk.Indeed,15of16herdshadhigherTSTlimitof200,000cells/ml.nbsp;Analysisofvarianceshowedthatforhousingconditions,onlylitterandscrapinghaveasignificantimpactontheTCTandthesomaticcellscore(SCS).Indeed,basedontheDuncantest,theseparameters(iftheyarenotmet)areassociatedwithhighcellnumberingisforalitterTST704103±254.3cells/mlandscrapingTST895103±218cells/ml.Andpracticesoftrafficking,thevacuumlevel,thepulserate,controlofthefirstjets,wiping,closingvacuumbeforeremovingteatcupsanddippingsignificantlyaffectthehealthoftheudder.ThevacuumlevelandfrequencyofpulseswereinadequateassociatedwithrespectivelyTCT999±187103cells/mLand816±264103cells/ml.Ontheotherhand,theanalysisofPearsoncorrelationbetweenthecleanlinessofthegeneralconditionoftheudderandhindlegs(measuredusingagrid)withcellnumberingrevealedthatthehealthstatusoftheudderisinfluencedbyanychangeinthecleanlinessofthesethreepositions,especiallybythegeneralstate(PETG)withacoefficientofcorrelationwiththeSCSequalto0.95andthelinearregressioniswrittenintheformSCS=0.039+2.168*PETG.Indeed,anydecreaseincellnumbersincreasedcleanlinessmilkandincreasestheriskofmastitis.Averagelossesinmilkduetohighcellnumberinginexcessof200,000cells/mlnbsp;wereestimatedat8.29%ofmilkproduction.nbsp;