A cohort study of the associations between udder conformation, milk somatic cell count, and lamb weight in suckler ewes

A cohort study of 67 suckler ewes from 1 farm was carried out from January to May 2010 to investigate associations between udder conformation, udder half milk somatic cell count (SCC), and lamb weight. Ewes and lambs were observed at lambing. Ewe health and teat condition and lamb health and weight were recorded on 4 to 5 further occasions at 14-d intervals. At each observation, a milk sample was collected from each udder half for somatic cell counting. Two weeks after lambing, ewe udder conformation and teat placement were scored. Low lamb weight was associated with ewe SCC > 400,000 cells/mL (−0.73 kg), a new teat lesion 14 d previously (−0.91 kg), suboptimal teat position (−1.38 kg), rearing in a multiple litter (−1.45 kg), presence of diarrhea at the examination (−1.19 kg), and rearing by a 9-yr-old ewe compared with a 6-yr-old ewe (−2.36 kg). High lamb weight was associated with increasing lamb age (0.21 kg/d), increasing birth weight (1.65 kg/kg at birth), and increasing number of days the ewe was given supplementary feed before lambing (0.06 kg/d). High udder half SCC was associated with pendulous udders (9.6% increase in SCC/cm of drop) and greater total cross-sectional area of the teats (7.2% increase of SCC/cm2). Low SCC were associated with a heavier mean litter weight (6.7% decrease in SCC/kg). Linear, quadratic, and cubic terms for days in lactation were also significant. We conclude that poor udder and teat conformation are associated with high levels of intramammary infection, as indicated by increased SCC and that both physical attributes of the udder and SCC are linked to lamb growth, suggesting that selection of suckler ewes with better udder and teat conformation would reduce intramammary infection and increase lamb growth rate.