Studies on the udder and teat morphology and their relationship with milk yield in Murrah buffaloes

R M V Prasad, K Sudhakar*, E Raghava Rao**, B Ramesh Gupta*** and M Mahender*

NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram A.P India 521102
rmvjaya@gmail.com
Department of LPM, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram
* Department of LPM, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar
** Department of Animal Nutrition, NTR College of Veterinary Science, Gannavaram
*** Department of AGB, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar

(Part of the Ph.D thesis submitted by the first author to SVVU, Tirupati)

Abstract

An investigation was undertaken to study the variation in the udder and teat shapes and dimensions their relationship with the milk yield in Murrah buffaloes. In this study Murrah buffaloes maintained at the Buffalo Research Station, Venkataramannagudem and in the farmers’ field were utilized.  A total of 200 buffaloes were considered to study the udder and teat morphology and milk yield.

The results showed that among the different udder shapes, bowl shape was very common followed by globular, pendulous and goaty shapes and their occurrences were 61.0 %, 17.0 %, 13.0 % and 9.0 %, respectively. Similarly, cylindrical teats were more frequent with a percentage of 52.5 followed by pear, bottle, conical and funnel shape of teats with 18.0, 11.0, 10.5 and 8.0% respectively. The mean and S.E values of udder length, width and depth in Murrah buffaloes ranged from 51.5 ± 0.91 in goaty udders to 54.7 ± 0.37cm in bowl shaped udders, 46.1 ± 0.51 to 51.5± 0.73 cm in goaty and pendulous udders and 14.8 ± 0.34 to 15.7 ± 0.28 cm in goaty and globular udders, respectively. Positive and significant correlations were observed among all the udder measurements. The average lengths of left fore, right fore, left hind and right hind teats were 7.37 ± 0.15, 7.53 ± 0.16, 8.23 ± 0.18 and 8.12 ± 0.17 cm, respectively, and the mean diameters in the same order were 2.65 ± 0.02, 2.71 ± 0.03, 2.80 ± 0.03 and 2.89 ± 0.04 cm. The buffaloes were milked twice a day viz., morning and evening at 4.00 and 16.00 hrs respectively and were stimulated for milk ejection by letting a calf or by manually massaging the udder after washing. Washing of udder was practiced after calf suckling prior to complete milking. The morning and evening milk yields of individual buffaloes were recorded to arrive at the total daily milk yield. The average daily milk yield in Murrah buffaloes with various udder shapes was 6.41 ± 0.33, 5.91 ± 0.26, 5.61 ± 0.32 and 6.31 ± 0.16 kg in bowl, globular, goaty and pendulous type of udders, respectively.

It was found that the average daily milk yield in buffaloes with cylindrical shaped teats was highest followed by bottle, funnel, pear and conical shaped teats.

Key words: milk production, teat dimensions, teat shape, udder dimensions, udder shape

Introduction

Buffalo has been an integral part of livestock agriculture in Asia. Buffalo is a triple purpose animal producing milk, meat and draft power.  Buffaloes are well adapted to

hot and humid climate and play a distinct role in improving the rural economy which is primarily based on agricultural production systems.  In fact, these animals can be considered as a financial asset in times of crisis. About 57% of world buffalo population is in India and a growth rate of 1.26 % per year is seen in this decade in India. 

Buffaloes have been contributing to about 12% of the world milk production and India is producing 60% of the world’s buffalo milk. India ranks first in terms of milk production in the world with a production of 100 million tonnes and buffalo milk contributes to more than 50 % of the total milk produced in India (GOI 2006). It was reported that both morphological and physiological mammary properties affect the milk yield in cattle (Tilki et al 2005). But not much research was done on the udder and teat morphology and their influence on the milk yield in buffaloes. Hence, an attempt was made to study the morphological variations in udder and teat shapes and dimensions and their relation with milk yield in Murrah buffaloes.

Materials and methods 

The study was carried out in the Krishna and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh which is primarily a buffalo rearing tract. The Murrah buffaloes available at the Buffalo Research Station, Venkataramannagudem of Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University and in the farms present in the surrounding areas of the research station were utilized for the present study.  The udder shapes were classified basing on the visual appraisal as Bowl, Globular, Goaty and Pendulous. Similarly, the teat shapes were classified as Conical, Bottle, Pear, Cylindrical and Funnel shaped.  The physical measurements taken on the udder were udder length, udder width and udder depth while the measurements taken on the teats were teat length, teat diameter, distance between fore teats, distance between hind teats and the distance between fore and hind teats.

A total of 200 Murrah buffaloes were utilized to study the udder and teat morphology and their relation with the milk yield. The experiment was conducted during the period from August 2007 to January 2008. The buffaloes were milked twice a day viz., morning and evening at 4.00 and 16.00 hrs respectively. All the milch buffaloes were stimulated for milk ejection by letting a calf or by manually massaging the udder after washing. Washing of udder was practiced after calf suckling prior to complete milking. The morning and evening milk yields of individual buffaloes were recorded to arrive at the total daily milk yield. 

Statistical analysis

Simple tabular technique of analysis using statistical tools such as frequencies and percentages was used in the study to present the prevalence of various udder and teat shapes in Murrah buffaloes. Two-way Analysis of variance with udder and teat shapes as the sources of variation was used to test the significance of variation in udder and teat dimensions and milk yield (F- test). The means that were significantly different at P<0.05 were tested using Duncan’s Multiple Range test. The data obtained on various udder and teat parameters and milk yield were analyzed using SPSS statistical package (version 12.0.1).

Results and dscussion 

Shape of udder

It may be observed from Table 1 that a great variation existed in the morphology of udders in Murrah buffaloes and the occurrence of bowl shaped udders was maximum among the Murrah buffaloes studied. These findings were in agreement with Saxena (1974) and Rao and Murthy (1991).

Predominance of bowl shaped udders was also reported by Bainwad et al (2007) in Marathwadi and Pandharpuri breeds of buffaloes. Sonwane et al  (2002) also observed a great variation in the udder shapes among various buffalo breeds.

The incidences of bowl (61.0%), globular (17.0%), pendulous (13.0%) and goaty shaped (9.0%) udders in the present study revealed that more number of buffaloes with bowl shaped udders were present with the farmers, indicating that the farmers preferred this type of udder for milking as these udders were yielding more milk. This observation was supported by Sastry and Tripathi (1988) who also reported that udder of this shape was more desirable than other shapes of udders as this shape yields more milk. The milk yielding capacity of this udder shape might be due to forward and backward extension of the udder. This feature of the udder was also observed by Bharadwaj et al (1987). 

The goat shaped udders were found to be least in this study and the findings were less than those reported by Saxena (1974) and more than those reported by Rao and Murthy (1991). The less frequency with regard to the goat shaped udders may be due to the fact that these buffaloes were less preferred owing to their non suitability for fast milking.

Shape of teat

It may be seen form the Table 1 that among the different shapes of teats observed in buffaloes, cylindrical teats were more frequent than other shapes. The percentage occurrence of cylindrical, pear, bottle, conical and funnel shaped teats were 52.5, 18.0, 11.0, 10.5 and 8.0 respectively.

The results in the present study with an occurrence of 52.5% of cylindrical teats were in agreement with the reports of Thomas et al (2004) and Bainwad et al  (2007) who also reported that majority of Murrah buffaloes had cylindrical shaped teats. However, Sastry et al  (1988) reported that funnel shaped teats were predominant over other shapes.

The percentage of bottle shaped teats observed in the present study was more than that reported by Thomas et al (2004). A greater variation in teat shapes observed in the present study corroborated with the findings of Sastry et al (1988), Rao and Murthy (1991) and Thomas et al (2004).

The wide variation observed in the udder and teat shapes in Murrah buffaloes in the present investigation might be because of no specific selection for them in any of the buffalo breeding programmes in India.

Udder measurements 

The means along with standard errors for various udder measurements according to the udder shapes are presented in the Table 2.

The mean and S.E values of udder length, width and depth in the present study in Murrah buffaloes with different udder shapes ranged from 51.5 ± 0.91 in goaty shaped udders to 54.7 ± 0.37cm in bowl shaped udders, 46.1 ± 0.51 to 51.5 ± 0.73 cm in goaty and pendulous udders and 14.8 ± 0.34 to 15.7 ± 0.28 cm in goaty and globular udders, respectively.  Thus, the udder measurements in buffaloes were low in goaty shaped udders compared to the other shapes of udders. In view of limited literature on udder measurements according to shape, further studies may be needed to establish such a relationship between udder shape and measurements in buffaloes. However, the overall mean udder length, width and depth of 54.2 ± 0.339 cm, 50.6± 0.361 cm and 15.6 ± 0.10 cm, respectively in the present study were similar to those observed by Saxena and Prabhu (1972) and Manik et al (1981).  Hafeez and Naidu (1981) reported a lower udder length and higher width than in the present study. 

The positive and significant correlations observed among all the udder measurements (Table 5) was in line with those reported by  Hafeez and Naidu (1981) and Saxena and Prabhu (1972). 

Teat measurements 

The mean values of various teat measurements according to the udder shape presented in Table 3 revealed that the  teat size and diameter were more in pendulous udders compared to other type of udders.

The average teat lengths in different udder shapes were 7.33 ± 0.16, 7.80 ± 0.38, 8.98 ± 0.48 and 9.28 ± 0.61 in bowl, globular, goaty and pendulous udders respectively. Similarly  the average teat diameter in buffaloes with various udder shapes were 2.76 ±0.03, 2.75 ± 0.06, 2.60 ± 0.01 and 2.93 ± 0.09 in bowl, globular, goaty and pendulous udders respectively. There was a great variation in the size of teats, ranging from 4 to 14 cm and 4.5 to 16 cm in the case of fore and hind teats, respectively. These findings were in agreement with Thomas et al (2004) and Rahman and Gill (1992) who also reported a large variation in the size of the teats. The hind teats in the study were longer than the fore teats and the observation was in agreement with Akhtar et al  (1999). The overall mean diameter in the present study was 2.76 ±.02 cm which was with in the range reported by Sastry and Tripathi (1988) and Rahman and Gill (1992).

Udder and teat morphology in relation to milk yield 

The average daily milk yield in Murrah buffaloes with various udder shapes are presented in Table 4.

Murrah buffaloes with bowl shaped udders were found to have highest average daily milk yield of 6.41± 0.33 kg followed by  pendulous, globular and goaty udders. Ghosh and Prasad (1998), Chaki et al (1999) and Bhuiyan et al  (2004) also reported a higher yield in bowl shaped udders in cows. However, Rao and Murthy (1991) reported a higher milk yield in globular shaped udders compared to bowl shaped udders in buffaloes.

There was a positive correlation between the udder measurements and the daily milk yield (Table 5). However, the correlation was significant only between udder width and daily milk yield (P<0.05) which is in agreement with Czarnik (1994).

The milk yield in buffaloes with various teat shapes are presented in the Table 4. The results revealed that the udders with cylindrical shaped teats yielded more average daily milk compared to other types of teats and the same was reported by Bharadwaj et al (2007).  

Although, a positive correlation existed between the average daily milk yield and the various teat measurements such as teat length, teat diameter and the distance between the front and hind teats, the correlation was significant (P<0.01) only between the average teat diameter and the milk yield (Table 5). The results are in agreement with Rahman and Gill (1992) in Murrah buffaloes, Akhtar et al (1999) in swamp buffaloes and Tilki et al (2005) in Brown Swiss cows.  Thus, the present study indicated that  that the buffaloes with cylindrical teat shapes should be recommended in upgrading programmes as milk yield was more in buffaloes with cylindrical shaped teats compared to other teat types.

Conclusions 

• Udder and teat characteristics/ measurements could be used as a reliable criteria in selection of buffaloes for milk production at the field level as was also opined by Lin et al (1987) and Gajbhiye et al (2007) for cows that udder measurements could be reliable criteria while selecting cows for milk production.

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Received 22 October 2009; Accepted 26 November 2009; Published 1 January 2010

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