Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Udder health in relation to udder and teat morphometry in Holstein Friesian × Sahiwal crossbred dairy cows

  • Regular Articles
  • Published:
Tropical Animal Health and Production Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present investigation involved 261 Holstein Friesian (HF) × Sahiwal cows to study the udder health as well as the udder and teat morphometry. The udder health was defined on the basis of bacteriology and California mastitis test of quarter foremilk. The morphometry parameters included udder fore depth (UFD, distance from the point where the fore udder merges within the abdomen to a point in front of the fore teats at the level of the udder base), udder rear depth (URD, distance from the bottom of the vulva to the base of the rear udder), udder depth (UD, level of the udder base with respect to hock joint), height of the udder from the floor, teat length, teat diameter (at mid of the teat barrel), teat-tip to floor distance and distance between the teats. The URD, UD and height of udder from the floor showed a significant (P < 0.05) relation to the udder health with mastitic cows having larger URD, smaller udder distance from the floor and the udder base placed below the hock joint. The cows with teat length larger than 4.5 cm and teat diameter 3.0 cm or larger had significantly more quarters affected with mastitis. Further, cows with teats placed nearer to the floor were more susceptible to mastitis (P < 0.01). No significant differences were found between healthy and mastitic udders with respect to UFD and distance between teats. It can be concluded that selection for optimum udder and teat morphometry in breeding programmes may help to reduce susceptibility to intramammary infections in HF × Sahiwal cows.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amin, A.A., Gere, T. and Kishk, W.H., 2002. Genetic and environmental relationship among udder conformation traits and mastitis incidence in Holstein Friesian into two different environments. Archiv Tierzucht Dummerstorf, 45, 129–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bajwa, I.R., Khan, M.S., Khan, M.A. and Gondal, K.Z., 2004. Environmental factors affecting milk yield and lactation length in Sahiwal cattle, Pakistan Veterinary Journal, 24, 23–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardakcioglu, H.E., Sekkin, S. and Oral Toplu, H.D., 2011. Relationship between some teat and body measurements of Holstein cows and subclinical mastitis and milk yield, Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 10, 1735–1737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, D.P., Buckley, F., Dillon, P., Evans, R.D. and Veerkamp, R.F., 2004. Genetic relationships among linear type traits, milk yield, body weight, fertility and somatic cell count in primiparous dairy cows, Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 43, 161–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhutto, A.L., Murray, R.D. and Woldehiwet, Z., 2010. Udder shape and teat-end lesions as potential risk factors for high somatic cell counts and intramammary infections in dairy cows, Veterinary Journal, 183, 63–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breen, J.E., Green, M.J. and Bradley, A.J., 2009. Quarter and cow risk factors associated with the occurrence of clinical mastitis in dairy cows in the United Kingdom, Journal of Dairy Science, 92, 2551–2561.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chrystal, M.A., Seykora, A.J., Hansen, L.B., Freeman, A.E., Kelley, D.H. and Healey, M.H., 2001. Heritability of teat-end shape and the relationship of teat-end shape with somatic cell score for an experimental herd of cows, Journal of Dairy Science, 84, 2549–2554.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coban, O., Sabuncuoglu, N. and Tuzemen, N., 2009. A study on relationships between somatic cell count (SCC) and some udder traits in dairy cows, Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 8, 134–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubey, A., Mishra, S., Khune, V., Gupta, P.K., Sahu, B.K. and Nandanwar, A.K., 2012. Improving linear type traits to improve production sustainability and longevity in purebred Sahiwal cattle, Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 5, 636–639.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haghkhah, M., Ahmadi, M.R., Gheisari, H.R. and Kadivar, A., 2011. Preliminary bacterial study on subclinical mastitis and teat condition in dairy herds around Shiraz, Turkish Journal of Veterinary Animal Science, 35, 387–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, J.S., González, R.N., Harmon, R.J., Nickerson, S.C., Oliver, S.P., Pankey, J.W. and Smith, K.L., 1999. Laboratory Handbook on Bovine Mastitis, revised edition, National Mastitis Council, Madison, WI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juozaitiene, V., Juozaitis, A. and Micikeviciene, R., 2006. Relationship between somatic cell count and milk production or morphological traits of udder in Black-and-White cows, Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 30, 47–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaas, I.C., Enevoldsen, C., Vaarst, M. and Houe, H., 2004. Systematic clinical examinations for identification of latent udder health types in Danish dairy herds, Journal of Dairy Science, 87, 1217–1228.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, D., Flock, M., Khol, J.L., Franz, S., Stuger, H.P. and Baumgartner, W., 2005. Ultrasonographic measurement of the bovine teat: breed differences, and the significance of the measurements for udder health, Journal of Dairy Research, 72, 296–302.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuczaj, M., 2003. Analysis of changes in udder size of high yielding cows in subsequent lactations with regard to mastitis, Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities, 6, 2–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Benavides, M.G., Williamson, J.H., Cursons, R.T., Lacy-Hulbert, S.J. and Woolford, M.W., 2005. Streptococcus uberis population dynamics in the New Zealand pastoral dairy farm. In: H. Hogeveen (eds), Proceedings of the 4th IDF International Mastitis Conference, Maastricht, Wageningen Academic Publishers, 649–655.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mein, G.A., Reinemann, D.J., Schuring, N. and Ohnstad, I., 2004. Milking machines and mastitis risk: A storm in a teat-cup. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the National Mastitis Council, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash, D.L., Rogers, G.W., Cooper, J.B., Hargrove, G.L. and Keown, J.F., 2002. Relationships among severity and duration of clinical mastitis and sire transmitting abilities for somatic cell score, udder type traits, productive life, and protein yield, Journal of Dairy Science, 85, 1273–1284.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neijenhuis, F., Barkema, H.W., Hogeveen, H. and Noordhuizen, J.P.T.M., 2000. Classification and longitudinal examination of callused teat ends in dairy cows, Journal of Dairy Science, 83, 2795–2804.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neijenhuis, F., Mein, G.A., Britt, J.S., Reinemann, D.J., Hillerton, J.E., Farnsworth, R., Baines, J.R., Hemling, T., Ohnstad, I., Cook, N., Morgan, W.F. and Timms, L., 2001. Evaluation of bovine teat condition in commercial dairy herds: 4 Relationship between teat-end callosity or hyperkeratosis and mastitis. Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Mastitis and Milk Quality, NMC/AABP, Vancouver, 362–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nĕmcová, E., Štípková, M., Zavadilová, L., Bouška, J. and Vacek, M., 2007. The relationship between somatic cell count, milk production and six linearly scored type traits in Holstein cows, Czech Journal of Animal Science, 52, 437–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pantelić, V., Nikši, D. and Trivunović, S., 2011. Variability and heritability of type traits of Holstein-Friesian bull dams, Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry, 27, 305–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ptak, E., Jagusiak, W., Żarnecki, A. and Otwinowska-Mindur, A., 2011. Heritabilities and genetic correlations of lactational and daily somatic cell score with conformation traits in Polish Holstein cattle, Czech Journal of Animal Science, 56, 205–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, G.W., Hargrove, G.L., Lawlor, T.J.J. and Ebersole, J.L., 1991. Correlations among linear type traits and somatic cell counts, Journal of Dairy Science, 74, 1087–1091.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, G.W. and Hargrove, G.L., 1993. Absence of quadratic relationships between genetic evaluations for somatic cell scores and udder linear traits, Journal of Dairy Science, 76, 3601–3606.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seykora, A.J. and McDaniel, B.T., 1986. Genetics statistics and relationships of teat and udder traits, somatic cell counts, and milk production, Journal of Dairy Science, 69, 2395–2407.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, N., Singh, N.K. and Bhadwal, M.S., 2011. Relationship of somatic cell count and mastitis: An overview, Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Science, 24, 429–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzmay, C., Kaya, Y., Akbas, Y. and Kaya, A., 2003. Effects of udder and teat morphology, parity and lactation stage on subclinical mastitis in Holstein cows, Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Science, 27, 695–701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallenberg, G.J., Vanderpoel, H.M. and Vanior, J.T., 2002. Viral infection and bovine mastitis, Journal of Veterinary Microbiology, 88, 27–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India

    Raj Sukhbir Singh

  2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, 141 004, Punjab, India

    Baljinder Kumar Bansal & Dhiraj Kumar Gupta

Authors
  1. Raj Sukhbir Singh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Baljinder Kumar Bansal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dhiraj Kumar Gupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Baljinder Kumar Bansal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Singh, R.S., Bansal, B.K. & Gupta, D.K. Udder health in relation to udder and teat morphometry in Holstein Friesian × Sahiwal crossbred dairy cows. Trop Anim Health Prod 46, 93–98 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0454-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0454-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation