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_________________________ Revista Cientíca, FCV-LUZ / Vol. XXXIII, Supl. Esp., 47 - 50, 2023, https://doi.org/10.52973/rcfcv-wbc003
MAXIMIZING THE POTENTIAL OF WATER BUFFALO MILKABILITY:
BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
Maximizando el potencial de la ordeñabilidad de los búfalos de agua: mejores prácticas y
lecciones aprendidas
Carlo Boselli 1*, Antonio Borghese 2
1 Istituto Zooprolattico Sperimentale del Lazio e Toscana “Mariano Aleandri”, Rome, Italy. Responsible for the “National Reference
Centre for the quality of milk and products derived from ovine and caprine animals” (C.Re.L.D.O.C.)
2 General Secretary International Buffalo Federation, Former Director Animal Production Research Institute, Rome, Italy
*Corresponding e-mail: Boselli, Carlo (carlo.boselli@izslt.it).
lyzed the main milk ow traits and milk yield recorded in Med-
iterranean Italian bu󰀨aloes milked with the Automatic Milking
System (AMS). The results showed a considerable variation
in milk ejection and, consequently, in the milk ow curves of
the bu󰀨aloes milked in AMS with a forced system compared to
the conventional one. The di󰀨erences were the following: better
pre-stimulation allowing a positive endogenous release of oxy-
tocin, with reduced lag time; independent milk ejection for each
teat, with optimal milking of all quarters, with the reduction of
BT; improvement of milking hygiene during milking, limiting the
incidence of mastitis and with a low value of somatic cell score;
adverse e󰀨ects due to failed or incomplete milking (17% of the
total milkings), limiting the potential capacity and e󰀩ciency of
AMS; frequent leakage of airow, which could cause alteration
of milk composition. In conclusion, continuous monitoring of
milk ability will help to optimize milking practices by reducing
labor time and increasing farmers’ income through better milk
quality and fewer udder issues. In addition, the identication of
bu󰀨aloes with desirable types of milk ow curves could be help-
ful for bu󰀨alo breeders’ associations to address farmer man-
agement and also to dene potential new breeding objectives.
Keywords: dairy bu󰀨alo, milkability, milk ow curves, milking
time.
RESUMEN
Los perles de producción y ujo de leche son parámetros esen-
ciales para registrar y evaluar. Los búfalos se caracterizan por
tener pezones y canales pezones más largos y, en particular,
una mayor resistencia muscular de la pared del pezón que en
las vacas; es necesario tener un nivel de vacío alto para abrir
el canal del pezón y comenzar la eyección de la leche. La le-
che almacenada en la ubre de búfala se puede dividir en dos
ABSTRACT
Milk yield and ow proles are essential parameters to record
and evaluate. Bu󰀨aloes are characterized by longer teats and
teat canals and, in particular, stronger muscular resistance of
the teat wall than in cows; it is necessary to have a high vacuum
level to open the teat canal and begin milk ejection. The milk
stored in the bu󰀨alo udder can be divided into two fractions: the
cisternal fraction, which has already been transferred from the
alveoli to the cistern during the interval between milkings and is
immediately available, and the alveolar fraction, which can only
be removed from the udder by the action of oxytocin. In bu󰀨a-
lo milking management, the milking machine is a critical point,
and the characteristics of the milking vacuum and the pulsation
rate are closely related to milk ow observations; in Italy, the
most commonly used vacuum levels are 44–46 kPa (range 40–
53 kPa). The data on the milkability traits of the Mediterranean
Italian breed made it possible to classify eight di󰀨erent types of
milk ow curves due to anatomical, physiological, and manage-
ment di󰀨erences. The most represented milk ow curve was
type 3 (with a similar time between PPT and DPT, 27.32%), fol-
lowed by type 6 (17.79%), characterized by a very long plateau
phase. The least represented curve was type 1 (4.41%), char-
acterized by a long lag time and low peak ow rate. Bu󰀨aloes
with curves of type 5 (10.62%) and 6 (17.79%) were character-
ized by the highest milk yield at milking, the lowest somatic cell
score, and the shortest milking time. The analysis of the milk
emission proles showed an excessive duration of DPT and
overmilking (BT); these results suggest the detachment of the
milking cluster to reduce the BT with the following advantages:
a) reduction of the total milking time and consequently of the
worker’s time, b) improvement of the farmer’s income and milk
quality thought the mastitis incidence decreases. Concerning
the automation of milking technologies, a recent study ana-
48
13th World Bu󰀨alo Congress ~ 13er Congreso Mundial de Búfalos / Lectures / Management, Behavior & Animal Welfare ________________
fracciones: la fracción cisternal, que ya ha sido transferida de
los alvéolos a la cisterna durante el intervalo entre ordeños y
está inmediatamente disponible, y la fracción alveolar, que sólo
puede extraerse de la ubre por la acción de la oxitocina. En
el manejo del ordeño de búfalas, la máquina de ordeño es un
punto crítico, y las características del vacío de ordeño y la tasa
de pulsación están estrechamente relacionadas con las obser-
vaciones del ujo de leche. En Italia, los niveles de vacío más
utilizados son de 44 a 46 kPa (rango de 40 a 53 kPa). Los datos
sobre las características de ordeñabilidad de la raza mediterrá-
nea italiana permitieron clasicar ocho tipos diferentes de curvas
de ujo de leche debido a diferencias anatómicas, siológicas y
de manejo. La curva de ujo de leche más representada fue la
tipo 3 (con un tiempo similar entre PPT y DPT, 27,32%), segui-
da de la tipo 6 (17,79%), caracterizada por una fase de meseta
muy larga. La curva menos representada fue la tipo 1 (4,41%),
caracterizada por un largo tiempo de desfase y un bajo caudal
máximo. Los búfalos con curvas de tipo 5 (10,62%) y 6 (17,79%)
se caracterizaron por la mayor producción de leche en el mo-
mento del ordeño, el menor puntaje de células somáticas y el
menor tiempo de ordeño. El análisis de los perles de emisión
de leche mostró una duración excesiva del DPT y del sobre-
ordeño (BT); Estos resultados sugieren el desprendimiento del
grupo de ordeño para reducir el BT con las siguientes ventajas:
a) reducción del tiempo total de ordeño y consecuentemente del
tiempo del trabajador, b) mejora de los ingresos del productor y
de la calidad de la leche al disminuir la incidencia de mastitis. En
cuanto a la automatización de las tecnologías de ordeño, un es-
tudio reciente analizó las principales características del ujo de
leche y la producción de leche registrada en búfalas italianas del
Mediterráneo ordeñadas con el Sistema de Ordeño Automático
(AMS). Los resultados mostraron una variación considerable en
la eyección de leche y, en consecuencia, en las curvas de ujo
de leche de las búfalas ordeñadas en AMS con sistema forzado
respecto al convencional. Las diferencias fueron las siguientes:
mejor preestimulación que permite una liberación endógena po-
sitiva de oxitocina, con un tiempo de retardo reducido; eyección
de leche independiente para cada pezón, con ordeño óptimo de
todos los cuartos, con reducción de BT; mejora de la higiene del
ordeño durante el ordeño, limitando la incidencia de mastitis y
con un bajo valor de puntuación de células somáticas; efectos
adversos por ordeño fallido o incompleto (17% del total de or-
deños), limitando la capacidad potencial y eciencia del AMS;
Fugas frecuentes de ujo de aire, que podrían provocar altera-
ciones en la composición de la leche. En conclusión, el moni-
toreo continuo de la capacidad lechera ayudará a optimizar las
prácticas de ordeño al reducir el tiempo de trabajo y aumentar
los ingresos de los ganaderos a través de una mejor calidad de
la leche y menos problemas con la ubre. Además, la identica-
ción de búfalas con tipos deseables de curvas de ujo de leche
podría ser útil para que las asociaciones de criadores de búfalas
aborden la gestión de los ganaderos y también para denir posi-
bles nuevos objetivos de cría.
Palabras clave: búfala lechera, ordeñabilidad, curvas de ujo
de leche, tiempo de ordeño.
INTRODUCTION
The bu󰀨alo (Bubalus bubalis) is a species of worldwide
importance, reared for the production of milk, meat, hides, and
other by-products and often used as a working animal in mar-
ginal rural areas [1, 2]. Although the milk produced by bu󰀨aloes
is an irreplaceable source of nutrients and energy, especially in
some countries or conned environments, its extraction from
the mammary gland is not always easy. Milk removal is essen-
tial both for production purposes and to ensure the health of
the organ; it can be done in two ways: a) natural extraction by
sucking the calf, b) articial extraction by manual or mechani-
cal milking. In dairy species, milking is the foremost essential
operation a󰀨ecting production e󰀩ciency. A general denition
of “milkability” is ‘the ability of an animal to provide regular,
complete and rapid milk secretion from the mammary gland
in response to correct milking technique.’ The primary method
of assessing “milkability” is based on the analysis of the milk
ow curve; in this way, the electronic milk meter (LactoCord-
er® device) records milk yield in the whole milking, electrical
conductivity, and the main parameters of the milk ow curve,
including the Total Milking Time (TMT). Since 1999, the Milk
Quality laboratory of the “Istituto Zooprolattico Sperimentale
del Lazio e della Toscana M. Aleandri” (Rome, Italy) has been
engaged in the study of milk emission kinetics by recording
milk ow curves in the main dairy species (bu󰀨alo, cow, goat,
sheep, and donkey).
CLASSIFICATION OF THE TYPES OF MILK FLOW
CURVES
A graphical representation of milk ejection can be dis-
played through milk ow curves, which di󰀨er according to the
dairy species [3, 4]. The milk ow curves are subdivided into
three main phases and a fourth one. The rst phase is the “Lag
Time” (LT), represented by the time elapsed between the at-
tachment of the milking clusters and the time until there is a
constant milk ow. The second is the “Plateau Phase” (PPT),
where the milk ow is constant. The third phase is the “De-
creasing Phase” (DPT), which represents the time from the
PPT until milk ow drops below 0.20 kg/min. The fourth phase
may be the “Blind Phase” (BT). The BT (milk ow below 0.2 kg/
min) occurs between the end of the DPT and the detachment
of the milking cluster [5, 6]. Usually, the detachment is not per-
formed promptly to collect the small amount of milk, the resid-
ual fraction, by stripping (often obtained by manual traction of
the milking cluster by a milker) followed by further overmilking
before detachment of the milking cluster.
Milk letdown is inuenced by several factors: anatomical,
physiological, sanitary, and environmental [7, 8, 9]. Many stud-
ies performed in di󰀨erent countries have shown that bu󰀨alo are
challenging to milk because there is a delay in milk ejection.
Because the udder anatomy and arrangement of the mammary
tissue, a cisternal fraction of milk, and teat canal length are
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________________________________________________________ Revista Cientíca, FCV-LUZ / Vol. XXXIII, Supl. Esp., 47 - 50, 2023
pretty di󰀨erent in bu󰀨aloes compared to dairy cattle [10, 11,
12]. Although each animal has its anatomical and physiological
characteristics, the milking machine can a󰀨ect the milkability
and machine times. Bu󰀨aloes are characterized by a longer
teat with a longer teat canal and stronger muscular resistance
of the teat wall [11, 7, 10]. Therefore, a higher vacuum level
is needed to open the teat canal and start milk ejection in this
species.
In bu󰀨alo milking management, milking machine set-up
is critical, and the milking vacuum levels and pulsation rate
are strictly connected with milk ow observations. For Medi-
terranean Italian (MI) breeds, a working vacuum level of up to
45 kPa in bu󰀨alo is generally ine󰀨ective unless alveolar milk
ejection has occurred. Generally, di󰀨erent studies conducted in
di󰀨erent parts of the world in which the vacuum level varies in
the range of 45–68 kPa for bu󰀨alo, while In Italy, the most used
vacuum levels are 44–46 kPa (range 40–53 kPa) [8, 9, 13].
Data on milkability traits available in the literature can be
traced back to the MI breed. In a recent study of 2,419 MI buf-
faloes reared on 187 farms in central Italy, Boselli et al. [14]
classied eight types of milk ow curves based on anatomical,
physiological and management di󰀨erences. The classication
of curves was based on visual inspection of curve shape, milk
yield, and milk ow parameters. Only the 2,288 milk ow curves
have been classied into eight di󰀨erent types. The most repre-
sented curve was type 3 (similar time between PPT and DPT,
27.32%), followed by type 6 (17.79%), characterized by a very
long plateau phase. The least represented curve was type 1
(4.41%), characterized by a long lag and low peak ow rate.
According to the analysis of variance, the milk yield
ranged from 2.21 to 5.22 kg per milking for types 1 and 6, re-
spectively, while the peak ow rate was minimum (0.50 kg/min)
and maximum (1.73 kg/min) for types 1 and 4 respectively.
Concerning the main milkability parameters, the results show
that the TMT averaged 11.29 min; the lag time and the milk
emission time averaged 2.19 min and 4.30 min, respectively.
The 12.5% of the total curves were classied as bimodal (two
di󰀨erent peaks of milk ow are evident; the rst peak is due to
the removal of the cisternal milk fraction, while the second peak
is due to the action of oxytocin, which allows the fraction of al-
veolar milk), and 60 of these were found to be of type 4. Based
on the literature, type 4 curves are representative of very short
teat canals and very high milk ow. The average somatic cell
score was 3.63 units, with a maximum value found for type 1
and a minimum for type 6. The highest milk yield at milking, the
lowest somatic cell score, and the shortest milking time charac-
terized bu󰀨aloes showing curves of type 5 and 6.
The results of this study showed that such traits could
be used as indicators to improve udder health and milkability
in dairy bu󰀨aloes. The classication proposed in our eld study
shows signicant di󰀨erences among the milk ow curves, which
could impact milk production and udder health. The results
showed a high prevalence of overmilking, which may be re-
sponsible for adopting a higher TMT in bu󰀨aloes than in cows.
Appropriate pre-milking udder stimulation should be used to
reduce LT, increase Average Flow Rate (AFR), and limit TMT.
In addition, proper milking practices would result in reduced la-
bor time and improved farmer income due to better milk quality
and fewer udder diseases. The results of this study allowed the
identication of optimal milk ow curve types for the MI breed in
terms of milk production and udder health; these results could
be helpful to bu󰀨alo breeders’ associations in herd manage-
ment and in dening potential new breeding goals.
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
Further research is needed to investigate the variability of
these phenotypes at the population level and whether they can
be used as indicator traits for breeding purposes. Finally, a brief
mention is made of the Automatic Milking System (AMS), which
has been available since 1992 and used as a method of volun-
tary milking in cattle and, more recently, in dairy bu󰀨aloes. Only
a few authors [15, 16, 17, 18] report data on the adaptability of
bu󰀨aloes to AMS. Boselli et al. [15] measured data on bu󰀨alo
with a portable milometer LactoCorder installed after the tubes
connecting the milking cups. The TMT measured between the
beginning of the cleaning of the rst teat and the detachment of
the last teat ranged from 8.80 min [15] to 8.3 min [16].
Regarding the number of milkings per day, Faugno et al.
[17] reported 2.3 milkings per bu󰀨alo per day, Sannino et al.
[18] and Boselli et al. [15] reported 2.5 milkings per bu󰀨alo per
day. Concerning the introduction of AMS in dairy bu󰀨aloes, the
preliminary results of the recent study show considerable di󰀨er-
ences in milk ejection and milk ow curves for bu󰀨aloes milked
in AMS with a forced system compared to the conventional one.
The di󰀨erences are as follows: better prestimulation, allowing
a positive endogenous release of oxytocin, with a reduced milk
letdown phase; independent milk ejection for each teat, with
optimal milking of all quarters, with a reduction in overmilking;
better milking hygiene during the milking routine, limiting the
incidence of mastitis and with a low somatic cell score; adverse
e󰀨ects due to failed or incomplete milkings (17% of the total
milkings), which limit the potential performance and e󰀩ciency
of AMS; frequent air leakage, which could cause alterations in
milk composition. AMS is suitable for bu󰀨aloes and opens up
a new strategy for recording and managing many milk ability
traits in dairy bu󰀨alo milking.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, it is possible to know the milkability of
the herd by monitoring milk ow curves. Continuous milkabil-
ity monitoring will help optimize milking practices by reducing
labor time and increasing farmers’ income through better milk
quality and fewer udder diseases. In addition, identifying bu󰀨a-
loes with desirable types of milk ow curves could be helpful for
50
13th World Bu󰀨alo Congress ~ 13er Congreso Mundial de Búfalos / Lectures / Management, Behavior & Animal Welfare ________________
bu󰀨alo breeders’ associations to address farmer management
and dene potential new breeding objectives. However, further
research is needed to investigate the variability of these phe-
notypes at the population level and to understand whether they
can be used as trait indicators for reproductive purposes.
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