Relationship of milking traits and somatic cell count with electrical conductivity of goat milk during different milking phases

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the relation between milking traits and somatic cell count with electrical conductivity of goat milk during different milking phases. The research was carried out in the herd of Czech White Shorthaired and Saanen goat breeds (n=323) with the help of the electronic milk flow meter LactoCorder®. The milk yield, milking duration, milking flow rate and electrical conductivity of milk in the different phases of milking showed the significant mean differences between the breeds. Almost all (except electrical conductivity during the initial time) investigated indicators of electrical conductivity had a significant positive correlation with SCC. The bimodality of milk flow was determined in 9.69 % of goats and associated with milk yield decrease and SCC increase (P<0.05). The results confirm that the milk flow curve data is a good tool to control milking traits of goats, to predict the prevalence of mastitis and, thus, to improve the health of the udder of goats.