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To make a decision on the number of milkings per day for each ruminant is a key factor to optimize the use of a machine milking. Currently, this decision is mainly taken from yield and stage of lactation data, but no udder capacity is taken into account. Milk is stored in the udder in the alveolar and cisternal compartments. Milk partitioning in the udder varied widely according to species, breed, lactation stage, parity, and milking interval. The increase in milking frequency has improved milk production in dairy ruminants. However, this practice reduces the milk composition, fertility, and productive life. To avoid increasing the number of milkings per day and reducing milk losses, a strategy based on the selection of ruminants with large udder cistern to store a large quantity of milk was adopted. Animals with great cisterns tolerate extended milking intervals and are milked faster with simplified routines. Ultrasonography will be a useful tool to measure udder cistern and to predict high-yielding animals. In practice, we propose to use the evaluation of udder cistern area, as helping criteria of udder milk storage capacity, establishing the optimal milking frequencies for each ruminant according to the production system.

A total of 72 camels at first and late stage of lactation managed under intensive condition were classified for udder and teat shape using digital images from left side of the mammary gland. Based on visual appraisal udder were classified to: pear, globular and pendulous. Meanwhile, teat classified to: funnel, cylindrical and bottle shape. Globular shape at first and late stage with the percentage of 47.22 %, 46.67 5, followed by pendulous (29.17%, 31.67%) and pear shapes (23.61%, 21.67%), respectively. Cylindrical teat were more frequent 43.06 %, of 61.67 % followed by funnel 36.11 %, 28.33 % and bottle shaped 20.83 %, 10 % at the first and late stage, respectively. A significant p≤ o.o5 difference was observed in total milk yield according to udder shape at first stage of lactation. By cylindrical scale highest milk yield of 5.64 kg was obtained from pear udder shaped followed by globular 4.7±0.28kg and pendulous 4.41±0.036 kg. No significant p≤ o.o5 difference was observed for teat shape and milk yields. Udder depth, length, circumference ranged according to udder shape from 40.14±0.66 to 46.36±0.71cm, 42.05±0.97 to 46.89 ±0.90 and 94.31±1.01 to 97.88±0.64, respectively. Significant difference in length observed between pear against globular and pendulous. Teat length front and rear according to udder shape ranged from3.70±0.25 to 5.80± 0.45 and 4.50±0.22 to5.89±0.51respectively. Teat diameter, distance between teat 2.94±0.18 to4.01±0.45 and 7.88±0.35to9.62±0.39 respectively. Teat length of front and rear, diameter and distance between teats significantly p≤ o.o5 lower in globular shaped from other shapes at first stage. Study showed clear variation in the udder and teat shapes and dimensions and their relationship with milk yield in lactating camels.

A total of 146 multiparous lactating Arabian camels at mid lactation, machine milked twice-daily and managed under intensive conditions were used to study the morphological traits of the udder for on-field udder evaluation. Pictures from the left side of the udder were obtained with a digital camera immediately before milking for later study. Udder and teat measures (using a standard reference) and shape typology were assessed by 3 evaluators from the digital pictures. Results revealed that Arabian dairy camels had well developed udders with large sized teats. Typology of the whole udder glands showed that the globular shape (47.3%) was the most common, followed by pear (34.3%) and pendulous (18.4%) shapes. Regarding the teats, conical or funnel was the most frequent shape (63.2% and 58.7% for front and rear teats, respectively) followed by cylindrical (26.4 and 32.5%, respectively) and blew-up (8.7 and 10.4%, respectively). Udder linear score repeatabilities among classifiers were moderate for udder depth (0.69), udder floor inclination (0.64), teat shape (0.69), teat length (0.64) and teat width (0.45). We concluded that dairy camels need specific milking clusters, as well as selection by morphology for improving their machine milkability.

Nowadays there is an increasing interest in camel's milk for human nutrition due to its functional properties. As a result of market demands for milk production, intensive dairy camel's farms using modern machine milking have been recently estabilished around the world. Efficient milking are related to the good milking ability of animal (machine milked). Camels should be chosen with good udder and teat conformations because of its direct effects on ease of milking and milk hygiene. There are a huge variation in size of teats (length and diameter) between camels. These variations might cause some problems during machine milking and require special settings and practice during milking. Therefore, the necessity to design specific milking clusters for lactating camels, with longer and wider cups than dairy cows. Milking camels at 50 kPa and 60 pulsations/min improved milking efficiency without affecting teat condition and udder health; camels were able to let down more milk in a shorter time at higher milk flow rate. Compared to other dairy animals, camels have a very limited cisternal cavity. Therefore, insufficient udder and teat stimulation will lead to incomplete milking. It is recommended to extend the duration of udder and teat stimulation (90 to 120 sec) before milking. Further studies are needed to confirm these results during the entire lactation period.

A total of 10 multiparous dromedary camels under intensive condition in mid stage of lactation were used to evaluate teat condition and udder health under machine milking with high vacuum level during 10 weeks. Ail camels were milked twice a day (06:00 and 16:00) by a portable milking machine with medium milk pipeline and electronic pulsator. The milking machine was set at 50 kPa, 60 pulses/min, and 60:40 pulsation ratio. At the start of experiment ail camels were diagnosed free of mastitis. Individual milk yield was measured during a.m. and p.m. milking using an electronic milk f10w meter (lactocorder®). Front and rear teat length was measured before and after each milking. Teat condition was c1assified for teat texture (soft and firm) by manual palpation and for teat color (normal and red) by visual assessment before and after milking. Milk samples (100 ml) were collected weekly from udder at each milking and analysed for major milk constitutes. Udder health were performed by california mastitis test (CMT) and bacteriology during the experimental period. No subclinical mastitis was detected in any of the udders quarters during the experimental period as indicated by the CMT "1) and bacteriology (coliform=O and total flora=32097±396 ufc/mL) test. On average, daily milk yield (Kg/day) and fal, protein, lactose and total solids contents were 6.25 ± 1.05, 3.87± 0.62; 3.14± 0.45; 4.10 ± 0.65 and 11.10 ± 1.15, respectively. The observed high fat and protein ratio (>1) indicated a complete milk let-down during machine milking. On average, front and rear teat length before milking were 6.3±1 .7 cm and 5.6±1.8 cm, respectively. Teats length increased (P

Quatorze dromadaire multipares en début (n = 7; 68±6 DIM ; 5.2±1.0 kg/j) et fin de lactation (n = 7; 353±8 DIM ; 3.6±1.2 kg/j) ont été utilisés pour étudier les effets à court terme du niveau de vide (45 à 50 kPa) et du taux de pulsation (52 et 60 pulsations/min) sur l'efficacité de la machine à traire en système intensif. Une machine à traire avec pots trayeurs et pulsateur électronique a été utilisée pour la traite deux fois par jour. Production et flux de lait ont été enregistrés par les compteurs de lait Lactocorder ®. À la traite du matin, les volumes de traites par la machine (MM), le lait égouttage machine (MSM) et le lait résiduel (RM) ont été enregistrés pendant deux jours différents. Le stade de lactation affecte significativement les fractions du lait et les flux de lait pendant la traite. Le niveau de vide de 50 kPa et un taux de pulsation de 60/min n'ont pas modifié le pourcentage de MM, mais a diminué (P