The effect of two management systems on milk composition in dairy ewes.

Several factors that contribute to variation in production and quality of ewe milk have been described, such as environment, breed, age of ewe, lactation stage, number of lambs or milking techniques, sanitary condition and udder infections, herd management and nutritional level during gestation and lactation. The objective of this project was to evaluate two milk production systems and their effect on milk chemical composition using 87 Bergamasca ewes. Ewes in one group were separated from their lambs 48 h after birth, while ewes in the second group were kept with their lambs until the lambs were weaned at 60 days of age. All ewes were machine-milked for a period of 90 days. Milk samples were collected once a week for analyses of lactose, protein, fat and total solids using infrared. The analyses were carried out at the Milk Cattle Breeding Management Technology Center, ESALQ/USP, Piracicaba, São Paulo. The data were statistically analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS. Differences in production of fat, protein, lactose and total solids contents during the whole lactation were observed between the two systems (P<.05). Fat content of the milk from the ewe group without lambs was higher (5.51%) than the ewe group with lambs (3.74%). Differences in protein content of the milk were also found; however, average protein values were within levels reported in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]