ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to monitor cow milk quality and composition in two farms in the Noroeste Rio-grandense mesoregion, located in the municipalities of Palmeira das Missões and Pinhal - RS. Both herds were mixed, with animals of the Holstein (70%) and Jersey (30%) breeds. The following overall parameters were evaluated: body condition score (BCS), udder dirtiness, and calving order, and the following milk composition factors were measured: total dry extract (TDE), defatted dry extract (DDE), milk lactose, fat, and protein contents, casein, milk urea nitrogen (MUN), and somatic cell count (SCC). Multivariate statistical analysis was performed, and four factors were identified representing combinations of the measured variables. The first factor comprised negative relationships between milk production and cow breed, milk fat content, and milk protein content. The second factor comprised the positive relationships between lactation days and body condition score and milk protein content. The third factor represented the negative relationships between milk lactose content and SCC score, calving order, and BCS. The fourth factor was composed of the positive relationship between delivery order and udder dirtiness. Cluster analysis revealed that individual cows could be categorized into three groups. Monitoring the breed, calving order, body condition score, lactation days, milk production, fat, protein, and lactose contents, somatic cell counts, and udder dirtiness in cows allows greater control of the herd, allowing potential shortcomings to be rectified quickly and economic losses to production to be minimized.
Keywords:
Body condition score; fat; lactose; protein; somatic cell count
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