A comparative study of the constituents of cattle, sheep and goat milk in a hot - Humid environment

The milk constituents of fifteen lactating ruminant livestock, comprising each of white Fulani cows, West African Dwarf (WAD) does and WAD ewes, were evaluated and compared in a 12-week study. The animals were selected from the University herd and grouped according to stage of lactation (early, mid, late,) They grazed on unimproved pasture, comprising mainly of Panicum maximum, in addition to receiving a concentrate supplement (16.5%CP) compounded from brewers dry grain, wheat offals and palm kernel cake. Milk samples were obtained weekly from each animal and analyzed for Total solids (TS), Butterfat (BF), Crude protein (CP), Solids-not-fat (SNF), Lactose, Total ash (TA) and Gross energy (GE). The result showed that early and late lactation stages had no effect on the milk constituents of the three species. Total solids and total ash, however, differed significantly (p<0.05) between species in mid lactation. Values for TS, BF, and GE tended to be slightly enhanced in the late than in early and mid lactations in cow and sheep milk samples. The mean contents of TS, BE CP, SNF, Lactose, Ash and Energy were 14.56+0.14,15.92+0.27,14.77+0.28; 4.72+0.16,6.08+0.34,5.09+0.25; 4.62+0.20,4.15+0.11,4.30+0.09; 9.95+0.14,9.84+0.14,9.85+0.11; 4.55+0.05,4.76+0.11,4.56+0.10; 0.85+0.04,0.94+0.05,0.98+0.07; 1.78+0.06, 2.31+0.13, 1.92+0.09 MJ/kg for cow, sheep, and goat milk samples, respectively Correlations between TS and BF; TS and GE; BF and GE in sheep and goat milk were positive and significant (p<0.05). Sheep milk was higher (p<0.05) in GE content than cow and goat milk. There were no significant differences in the contents of SNF, Lactose and Total Ash among the samples from the three farm animals.