The effect of very frequent milking and of oxytocin on the yield and composition of milk in fed and fasted goats

Abstract

1. The effect of milking goats 1‐4 times an hour for 3‐12 hr on the yield and composition of milk has been studied in fed and fasted animals at all stages of lactation. 2. It was essential to inject oxytocin (50‐400 m‐u. I.V.) just before each milking to remove all the milk already in the udder and then the yield was similar to that obtained on twice daily milking (105 ± 2·1 S.E.%). There were no significant differences between goats or between the two glands of one goat, even if one had been denervated by autotransplantation. However, the variation from hour to hour was 1·5 times greater than from day to day. 3. The claim of Zaks (1964) and Zaks, Natochin, Sokolova, Tanasichuk & Tverskoy (1965) that milking every 15 min always produces a large rise in milk Na and a fall in K and lactose, which is characteristic of alveolar milk, is not substantiated. In high yielding goats milking gently by hand or with a cannula caused a small change in K only, but vigorous hand milking exacerbated this fall and also caused a fall in lactose and a rise in Na and Cl. Still larger changes were produced by using excessively large doses of oxytocin (2500 m‐u.) when there was also a rise in citrate and total nitrogen. Hourly milking in goats fasted for 24 hr had the same effect. 4. In fasted goats the milk yield fell to 90% within 8 hr and to 56 ± 2·1% of the previous level by 24 hr. It remained at this level for a further 10‐12 hr on twice daily or on hourly milking. The yields of autotransplanted glands usually fell slightly but significantly more than that of the glands in situ. In most goats mammary blood flow was halved but in all animals there were large falls in mammary uptake of glucose, acetate and amino acids and greatly increased uptake of free fatty acids. There were significant differences between fasted goats on hourly milking. 5. It is concluded that, in spite of changes in milk composition, milking hourly can be a useful technique for studying milk secretion. The striking effects of a short fast in a lactating animal are emphasized. © 1967 The Physiological Society