Production and composition of milk of Milchschaf (East Friesian) sheep, milked 1 vs 2 times a day

Abstract

Dairy sheep production has been developed in several countries of South America in the last 30 years, many farmers milk once a day in order to reduce input labor. In order to evaluate the effect of milk frequency on milk production and fat, protein and lactose content in milk, a trial was carried out during 2 years with 70 Milchschaf (East Friesian) ewes grazing on pastures. The ewes after partum suckled their lambs for 30 days, then they were weaned and the ewes were machine-milked. Two groups were conformed, G1 was machine-milked once a day (7:00 h) and G2 machine-milked twice daily (7:00 and 18:00 h). Milk production was recorded 5 times during the period; in each one the milk was sampled to analyze content of fat (%), protein (%) and lactose (%). Milk yield (L) adjusted to 100 d was 71.7±23.3 in G1 and 101.7±27.1 in G2 (P<0.01). Persistency was not affected by milking frequency. Average fat, protein and lactose content (%) were 5.54+0.53, 5.57+0.64 and 5.10+0.43 in G1 while for G2 they were 6.02+0.60, 5.47+0.34 and 5.33+0.23  respectively (P<0.01 except for protein, NS). In East Friesian, the suppression of one milking a day reduced milk production 29.5 % and altered milk composition with a diminution of fat percentage, so total solid production (kg) dropped by 31.9 %. Fat:protein relationship was higher in G2 (P<0.01).