An individual laboratory cheese-making method for selection in dairy ewes

摘要

A new analytical method to quantify individual laboratory cheese yield (ILCY) of ewe's milk, on the basis of milk quantities compatible with those of the official milk recording (OMR), was elaborated. The method was firstly evaluated within laboratory and secondly applied to a large number of milk samples belonging to various flocks of the Churra breed in order to study the ILCY behavior under real field conditions. The method demonstrated an acceptable performance within the laboratory and under field conditions. ILCY was close to real cheese yield in dairy ewes. It showed a normal distribution and an evolution during the lactation period consistent with the fat and protein contents of the milk. This is of considerable significance for dairy ewe recording schemes where analysis of a large number of samples is required.