Relationship between udder measurements during pregnancy and partial daily milk yield in goats

Abstract

Relationship between udder measurements during pregnancy and partial daily milk yield (PDM) in ten West African Dwarf (WAD), three Red Sokoto (RS) and Sahel goats was studied. Udder width (UW), udder circumference (UC), distance between teats (DBT) and teat length (TL) were measured monthly before conception and during pregnancy up to parturition. PDM was determined weekly for 12 weeks of lactation commencing from 4 days post partum. There was a slight increase in udder dimensions within the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy (day 0 - 100) and then followed by an exponential increase during the third trimester (last 50 days of pregnancy) across the breeds. Sahel does had the largest udder dimensions with highest average PDM while WAD does had the smallest udder with lowest average PDM. The highest correlations between udder growth curve parameters and average PDM were obtained with A (r. 0.795) and b (r = 0.609). Thus, udder size at conception and during pregnancy appeared to be a significant determinant of average PDM per lactation and could be more important to average PDM than the rate of increase in udder size during pregnancy.