Udder shape and milk yield of different sheep breeds Oblik vimena i mlijecnost razlicitih pasmina ovaca

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of individual udder shapes in three dairy sheep breeds, as well as the relationship of udder shape with the production and chemical composition of sheep's milk. For this purpose, the research included 111 Pag sheep, 93 Istrian sheep and 80 East Friesian sheep. During the milking period in all flocks included in the research, milking control was carried out using the AT method, while the udder shape assessment in all studied ewes was carried out by the same person once during lactation when conducting the first milking control (after weaning of lamb(s)). In Pag sheep four distinct forms or types of udder (types I, II, III and IV) were clearly identified, in Istrian sheep the existence of three udder shapes (types II, III and IV) was determined, while in East Friesian sheep were found two udder shapes (type II and III). In all three breeds the most frequent were ewes with the udder type III. in all three breeds, higher production of milk was observed in sheep with low and (almost) vertically positioned teats and with a pronounced longitudinal furrow between the udder halves (udder types III and IV) than in sheep with highly placed and horizontally positioned teats (udder types I and II). However, differences in milk production between sheep of different udder shapes were found to be statistically significant (P