Udder health indicators of serrana goats breed used for Milk production of the “transmontano goat cheese”
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“Transmontano goat cheese” is a traditional Portuguese protected designation of origin cheese produced with raw milk from goats of different herds in the region of Trás-os-Montes. Maintaining high quality standard is essential and depends mainly on the health of the herd and milk quality. Intramammary infections are the main cause for milk composition changes, decrease in milk quality and quantity, leading to high economic losses. In order to make a first approach of the udder health status and make management improvements, somatic cells count from the bulk tank of each farm was evaluated along with other parameters such as fat content, protein and lactose, and total bacterial count to determinate their relationship. High somatic cells count (SCC) were observed. The percentage of fat content and lactose was negatively correlated with log10 SCC and indicated severe udder health problems. The negative correlation value of the total bacterial count in the present model suggests environmental contamination and cooling problems in milk storage. Results show the need for continued investigation and udder health control programs in Serrana goat herds.
