Udder morphometry in goats: correlation between milk production, milking rate and mastitis incidence

The udder measurement of 47 lactating does, in lactation, 22 Nubians, 6 Alpines and 19 Saanens, rt ere studied. The milking: time (TE) was measured from the moment when attaching machine milking cups on the udder until the end of milking. The milking rate (TA) was ns defined as PL/TE, where PL is the daily milk production. The least square means for Pf, TE, TA and CMT were 1,483+/-39g, 87+/-3s, 17.6+/-0.8g/s and 0.63+/-0.07, respectively . The udder perimeter (PU), teat perimeter (PT) teat length (CT), udder cleft (AL), visual appraisal of udder shape (globular or non-globular), tentshape (balloon, cylinder, funnel or bottle) and rent end shape (round or sharp) were described and their effect on FL, TE TA and CMT were also studied Females with sharp teat end sharp had a lower er incidence of mastitis than female with round tent end round (P<0,05). The PU had a significant effect (P<0.01) on FL, TE and TA. The correlation coefficient between PU and FL, PU and TE, PU and TA were 0.78, 0.51 and 0.41, respectively, and a negative correlation of -0.30 (P<0.05) between PU and CMT. Results suggest the possibility of selection based on the udder morphometry.