Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
The study was carried out on ten local dairy cows called Zebu at a research centre located in the west part of Burkina Faso. Dairy cows were supplemented 53.8 MJ metabolized energy and 735.7 g Crude Protein and were free access to natural pasture. Milk yield recording and individual milk sample collection took place within one month. Milk samples were analyzed for composition with the method of mid infrared spectroscopy and for somatic cell count with fluorescent method. The results showed that saleable milk yield varied between dairy cows and days. The lowest milk yield (1.04 ± 0.29 L/day) was associated to higher somatic cell count (5.30 ± 0.73 = Log10) compare to cows with the highest daily milk yield in this study (3.46 ± 0.39 litres/day and 4.73 ± 0.45 = Log10). But, the higher fat content (5.79 ± 1.62) was found for cow with higher somatic cell count. Saleable milk yield and milk composition were strongly associated to somatic cell count but the study did not show how much milk and its components could vary with higher somatic cell count.
Key words: Local cow, milk yield, Somatic cell count, composition.
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