Medycyna Wet. 65 (3), 147-150, 2009
full text
| Olechnowicz J., Jaśkowski J. M. |
| Ultrasound examination of mammary glands in ruminants |
| Machine milking of ruminants has a considerable effect on the length of the teat canal, the width of the teat sinus, the width of the teat end and the thickness of the teat wall. The width of the teat end and the length of the teat canal showed the biggest changes 6 and 2 h, respectively, after the completion of milking. The thickness of the teat wall and the width of the teat sinus returned to the original condition from before milking after 6 and 8 h, respectively. In sheep the thickness of the teat wall in left and right half-udders 4 h after milking increased by 17 and 16% in relation to measurements taken before milking, while for the length of the teat canal it was by 10 and 8%. With progress in lactation the area of milk sinuses in cows decreased significantly. Similarly, in Manchega and Lacune sheep the size of milk sinuses decreased during lactation. The values of correlation coefficients between the size of milk sinuses and milk yield of ewes, depending on the applied ultrasound measurement methods, were 0.53 and 0.48. The area of milk sinuses in goats and the daily milk production, irrespective of the number of milkings per day (one or two), increased linearly with the number of hours between milkings. In healthy mammary glands of cows teat canals were longer and narrower, while in infected glands they were shorter and wider. The length of the teat canal in cows was negatively correlated with the peak and mean values of the milk flow index. |
| Keywords: cows, small ruminants, ultrasound examination, teats, milk cistern |