Exogenous melatonin reduces somatic cell count of milk in Holstein cows

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of calving season (winter and spring) and parity (first and second parity) on colostrum quality. Colostrum of 42 Holstein cows raised at a private dairy farm was used in this experiment. Calving season and parity had no effects on major components of colostrum. However, somatic cell count (SCC) and the brightness of the colostrum (L*) values were affected by calving season (Pis less than 0.05). The mean of winter colostrum SCC was lower than the spring season (P is less than0.05). The brightness of the colostrum was found to be higher in winter season than in spring season (Pis less than 0.01). Colostrometer has been used to evaluate colostrum quality and Brix refractometer and colorimeter can also be used to assess colostrum quality.

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The Use of Teat-End Hyperkeratosis to Predict Somatic Cell Count and Milk Quality of Holstein Cows Raised in Egypt

Tropical Animal Science Journal ◽

10.5398/tasj.2021.44.2.213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 213-221

Author(s):

S. Abdelghany ◽

N. H. Fahim ◽

F. Samir ◽

M. A. Radwan

Keyword(s):

Somatic Cell ◽

Cell Count ◽

Milk Yield ◽

Somatic Cell Count ◽

Digital Camera ◽

Holstein Cows ◽

Simple Linear Regression ◽

Milk Traits ◽

Unit Increase

The study aimed to investigate the association between teat-end hyperkeratosis (THK) and somatic cell count (SCC) and to assess the effect of SCC on milk yield, fat, and protein percentages of Holstein cows. A total of 740 udder quarters of 185 Holstein cows kept in three commercial herds in Egypt were enrolled in the study from May to September 2019. Foremilk samples were collected from udder quarters for assessing milk SCC, fat, and protein percentages. On the same cows, a digital picture of each teat end orifice was taken with a digital camera. Cows’ teats were assessed for THK and classified into two different groups of hyperkeratosis; mild and severe THK. SCC was converted to five classes of somatic cell score (SCS). Simple linear regression was performed to determine the loss of milk yield, fat, and protein percentages. SCC was significantly affected by THK (p<0.0001). About 57% of teats were classified as mild THK and 43% as severe THK. The teats with severe THK recorded higher SCC in milk. It was observed that SCS had a significant effect on fat and protein percentages (p<0.0001). A similar trend was shown for the effect of SCS on milk yield (p<0.05), where the highest values of milk traits were obtained for the lowest SCS. The loss of milk was 220 g/day. Also, fat and protein percentages decreased by 0.11% and 0.08%, respectively, for each unit increase in SCS, from zero to four. In conclusion, severe THK can lead to high SCC, which negatively affects milk traits.

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Influence of somatic cell count and body condition score on reproductiontraits and milk composition of Czech Holstein cows

Indian Journal of Animal Research ◽

10.18805/ijar.11469 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Savas Atasever ◽

Ludek Stádník

Keyword(s):

Somatic Cell ◽

Cell Count ◽

Body Condition ◽

Somatic Cell Count ◽

Body Condition Score ◽

Milk Composition ◽

Holstein Cows ◽

Composition Analysis ◽

Protein Percentage ◽

Condition Score

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of somatic cell count (SCC) and body condition score (BCS) on reproduction and milk composition characteristics in Czech Holstein cows. A total of 275 records of chosen cows was evaluated by milk composition, SCC, BCS and fertility traits. Infrared spectroscopic method was used for SCC test and an automatic device was used for milk composition analysis. Before statistical test, SCC data were transformed to log10 for normality and homogeneity of variances. BCS was performed using a 1-5 point scale and days from calving to first insemination (ICF), number of inseminations per conceptions (NIC) and days open (DO) were assessed as fertility parameters. To evaluate days in milk (DIM) on SCC and BCS, two groups were designed (group 1: cows in 1-69th day DIM and group 2: cows in 70-119th DIM). For testing BCS on chosen traits; cows with 2.50 £ BCS and cows with BCS ³ 2.75 were tested in two groups. All statistical work was applied by SPSS 17.0 at the 0.05 significance level. It was found that SCC elevated with high parities and cows with lower BCS had lower milk protein percentage. Cows with lower BCS had lower reproduction traits than those with higher BCS. Correlation coefficient between two markers was estimated as r= -0.181. Calculated means for the parameters could be assessed in reasonable thresholds. The study revealed that SCC played a marked role on protein percentage of milk, and BCS affected important reproductive characteristics of Czech Holstein cows.

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Effect of somatic cell count on milk fat and protein in different parities and stages of lactation in Holstein cows

Acta agriculturae Slovenica ◽

10.14720/aas.2017.110.1.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 110 (1) ◽

pp. 37

Author(s):

Arash CHEGINI ◽

Navid GHAVI HOSSEIN-ZADEH ◽

Hossein HOSSEINI-MOGHADAM ◽

Abdol Ahad SHADPARVAR

Keyword(s):

Somatic Cell ◽

Cell Count ◽

Milk Fat ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Somatic Cell Count ◽

Repeated Measurements ◽

Somatic Cell Score ◽

Holstein Cows ◽

Dry Period ◽

Protein Percentage

<p>The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of somatic cell score (SCS) on milk fat and protein in different parities and stages of lactation in Iranian Holstein cows. Records between June 2003 and January 2014 from 208,478 cows in lactations one to nine in 845 herds, comprising 2,456,303 monthly test-day (TD) records were used. The MIXED procedure of the SAS software with repeated measurements was used. The fixed effects of the model were herd, year-season of calving, month of TD, weeks of lactation, previous dry period length and somatic cell score (SCS) and covariate was calving age. Lactations were divided into six stages and analyses were performed within each stage. Also, different lactations were analyzed separately. Increase of SCS led to increase of milk fat and protein percentage and the increase of milk fat and protein associated with SCS was higher in early stages of lactation relative to later stages of lactation. Also, increase of milk fat and protein associated with SCS was higher in the first lactation rather than later lactations and decreased with increase of parity.</p>

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