Table 1.
Description of the four Norwegian dairy goat farms (A-D) included in the study
| Farm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | A | B | C | D |
| Bulk milk somatic cell counta | ||||
| 2020 | 1151 | 1238 | 753 | 831 |
| 2021 | 888 | 1270 | 610 | 572 |
| 2022 | 806 | 1326 | 598 | 864 |
| Bulk milk somatic cell countb | ||||
| Indoor spring | 499 | 911 | 264 | 540 |
| Pasture | 1554 | 1673 | 1321 | 1312 |
| Fall | 1189 | 1579 | 659 | 1170 |
| Herd sizec | 92 | 119 | 115 | 62 |
| Average annual milk productiond | 750 | 509 | 741 | 688 |
| Proportion of goats > third parity (%) | 34 | 40 | 63 | 25 |
| Replacement rate (%) | ||||
| 2021 | 31 | 20 | 22e | 41 |
| 2022 | 21 | 23 | 16e | 25 |
| Flooring/bedding | Metal mesh | Plastic mesh | Deep bedded straw | Plastic mesh |
| Milking system | Pipeline | Parlour | Parlour | Parlour |
| Automatic cluster removal | No | Yes | Yesf | No |
| Access to outdoor areas outside pasture season | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Milking-time testingg | ||||
| Machine on timeh | 01:47 | 02:08 | 01:37 | 01:39 |
| Overmilkingi | 00:07 | 00:12 | 00:04 | 00:47 |
| Average vacuum level, kPaj | 35.04 | 34.66 | 34.23 | 35.61 |
a12-month geometric mean (*1000 cells/mL)
bMean bulk milk somatic cell count (*1000 cells/mL) according to seasons (mean of 2021 and 2022)
cAverage annual number of milk goats
dKg milk pr goat > 1 parity, 280 days lactation
eFarm C did not have a constant replacement rate the years before the study
fAutomatic cluster removal at the home farm only
gMountain farm C, home farm A, B and D
hTime (minutes, seconds) from start milking to end milking
iTime (minutes, seconds) in the overmilking period (no milk flow but still milking)
jkPa in the short milk tube (SMT) during main milking (b-phase)