Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179

Relationships between udder and milking traits

in Murciano-Granadina dairy goats
S. Peris, G. Caja*, X. Such
Unitat de Produccio Animal, Facultat de VeterinaÁria, Universitat AutoÁnoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

Accepted 29 January 1999

Abstract

Morphological traits of the udder and their relationships with daily milk yield, residual milk and machine milk ¯ow
characteristics were studied in 33 Murciano-Granadina dairy goats. Measures were recorded at the start and the middle of
lactation. Effects of the rearing system of kids (natural or arti®cial), lactation stage, parity and proli®cacy were studied. Mean
values and standard errors for udder traits were: teat angle, 26.8  0.88; teat-¯oor distance from ground, 25.0  0.6 cm; teat
length, 28.5  0.7 mm; teat surface measured at a constant diameter, 5.2  0.3 cm2, or at a constant length, 10.9  0.5 cm2;
and udder volume, 2.1  0.1 l. Effects of proli®cacy on udder volume and teat-¯oor distance were observed, goats with twins
showing the largest udder volume and the shortest distance. Udder volume was positively correlated with body weight
(r ˆ 0.80) and milk yield (r ˆ 0.69). Positive correlations between teat length and milk ¯ow rate (r ˆ 0.55) and between teat
surface, measured either at a constant length (r ˆ 0.47) or at a constant diameter (r ˆ 0.58) and residual milk were also found.
Longer teat cup liners are needed to avoid compression and pain of teat tissue during milking and to reduce residual milk.
With the exception of teat length, teat surface measured either at a constant diameter or at a constant length and udder volume,
udder traits neither affected milk production nor milking time or ¯ow rate. It was concluded that Murciano-Granadina
dairy goats used have an appropriate udder for machine milking and longer liners (>120 mm) are recommended for this breed.
# 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Udder morphology; Milk ¯ow rate; Murciano-Granadina dairy goat

1. Introduction
One of the most important traits of dairy goats is the
ability to be milked, especially when related to
machine milking. It is important to clarify the role
of main traits that could be related to machine milk-
ability, such as: udder and teat measurements, milking
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-93-581-1442; fax: +34-93-
581-2006; e-mail: gcaja@cc.uab.es
time, milk ¯ow rate and their relationship to milk yield
and residual milk after milking (Peris et al., 1996).
Much is known about these aspects in dairy cows
(Ricordeau et al., 1989; Monardes et al., 1990; Rogers
and Spencer, 1991) and, to a lesser degree, in dairy
ewes (LabussieÁre et al., 1981; LabussieÁre, 1988; Fer-
naÂndez et al., 1989). However, this kind of data is not
abundant in dairy goats and the few existing observa-
tions are not fully comparable. Some were made only
on teat measurements (Le Du and Benmederbel, 1984;

0921-4488/99/$ ± see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 4 4 8 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 7 - 6
172 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179
Wang, 1989) and others on udder tissue proportions
(Anderson and Wahab, 1990). Some works show that
milk yield in dairy goats is positively in¯uenced by
body weight (Gall, 1980) and by udder and teat
records (Linzell, 1966; HoraÂk, 1971; Le Du and
Benmederbel, 1984). The main problem in dairy goat
studies on machine milkability is the difference in
methodological criteria and stages of lactation used by
different authors (Peris, 1994).
The aim of this paper was to describe the morpho-
logical traits of the udder of Murciano-Granadina
dairy goats and to determine their relationships with
milk ¯ow characteristics as well as to specify the
consequences of these traits on machine milkability.
The development of udder morphological traits during
two lactation stages was also studied.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Animals and treatments
Thirty-three Murciano-Granadina dairy goats from
the experimental farm of the Universitat AutoÁnoma of
Barcelona were used. The goats came only from three
sires. After kidding, in mid-October, they were
assigned to two groups, according to the rearing
system used for the kids: dams suckled (S, n ˆ 15)
and dams milked (M, n ˆ 18). The groups were
balanced with respect to sire, parity and the previous
year's milk yield or, for primiparous does, their
mothers' yield. Weaning of all the kids took place
at Week 7, although kids in M group were allowed free
access to their mothers' colostrum for 2 days and were
then reared arti®cially. In the S group just after kid-
ding, only one kid/goat was left and suckling was
permitted the whole day except while the goats were
on pasture (6 h on average). Unsuckled milk was
machine milked in the morning. After weaning or
permanent removal of kids (S at 7 weeks, and M at 2
days), goats were milked twice daily (9 h and 17 h)
including machine-stripping, in a 2  12 (eight milk-
ing units) Casse milking parlour system (Westfalia-
Separator IbeÂrica, Granollers, Spain) with recorder
jars (2 l  5%) and low-line milk pipeline. Milking
was conducted at a vacuum level of 42 kPa, a pulsation
rate of 90/min and a pulsation ratio of 66 : 34. The
liners used consisted of a stainless steel cup of 120 g
weight (Westfalia-Separator IbeÂrica no. 7036-2721-
020) and a rubber barrel (19 mm i.d., 120 mm length;
Westfalia-Separator IbeÂrica no. 7036-2725-070). All
the animals were weighed at parturition and at Week 7
of lactation and body weight recorded.
Morphological traits of the udder were measured
just after pasture time, which coincided with 1 h
before the afternoon milking (in M, and in S after
the 7th week), and at two different lactation stages, in
early (weeks 1 or 2) and mid-lactation (weeks 16 or
17).
According to the experimental protocol (Third
International Symposium on Machine Milking of
Small Ruminants 1983, mimeograph), the following
udder measurements were performed: (a) Teat angle
(TA, 8) with the aid of a pivoting angle meter. This is
the teat inclination with regard to the vertical. (b) Teat-
¯oor distance (TF, cm), the minimum distance
between teat end and ground. (c) Teat length (TL,
mm), measured with the aid of a calibrated and
transparent plastic tube (30 mm i.d.) with a mobile
piston as was described by Le Du and Benmederbel
(1984). (d) Lateral teat surface (cm2), measured on a
picture obtained from the direct application of a
transparent plate on each udder side. Using this pic-
ture, two surface measurements were performed: (i)
lateral teat surface at a constant diameter (TSCD), a
perpendicular line to the teat axis was traced to the
point where teat diameter was 30 mm and the area
between that line and the teat perimeter was calculated
and, (ii) lateral teat surface at a constant length
(TSCL), a perpendicular line to the teat axis was
traced at 40 mm from the teat tip, the area comprised
between that line and the teat perimeter being calcu-
lated. (e) Udder volume (U, l), measured in a bucket
by displacement of water (Linzell, 1966).
Measurements were performed on right and left
teats. In this work we discuss only the average values
between measurements of both the teats.
2.2. Characteristics of milk emission
Measurements of milk ¯ow characteristics were
also recorded at two different lactation stages
during the machine milking, later at the beginning
(weeks 5 or 6) and earlier in mid-lactation (weeks 12
or 13) to not interfere with morphological measure-
ments.
 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179 173

The following characteristics of milk emission were
recorded during the afternoon milking, except for the
S group in weeks 5 or 6, whose characteristics were
recorded during the morning milking, after kids were
separated from their dams the previous night. Record-
ing was done using the manual method (Ricordeau et
al., 1963) at intervals of 5 s instead of 15 s as described
in Peris et al. (1996). Three measures over three
consecutive days each sampling week were recorded
in every goat. The characteristics measured were: (a)
Total volume of the machine milk fraction (TV, ml)
from the ®rst milk jets until the ¯ow rate fell to
<10 ml/5 s (before machine-stripping). (b) Milking
time (T, s), the total time to obtain the total volume
of the machine milk fraction. (c) Average milk ¯ow
rate (FR, ml/min), which was calculated as: FR ˆ
(TV
60)/T.
Weekly and total milk yield during the 210 days of
lactation were also recorded for each goat. During the
®rst 7 weeks, milk yield in the S group was estimated
weekly by the oxytocin/machine-milking method
(Doney et al., 1979).
Residual milk (RM) was obtained fortnightly fol-
lowing the afternoon milking by machine milking
after an i.v. injection of 2 I.U. synthetic oxytocin
(Laboratorios Andreu, Barcelona, Spain). In the S
group, residual milk was obtained at the morning
milking of unsuckled milk before weaning.
2.3. Statistical analyses
Data were processed by repeated measures using
the PROC GLM analysis of the SAS software statis-
tical package (SAS, 1987). The model accounted for
variation due to group (S and M), proli®cacy (one, two
or more kids), parity (®rst, second, third or more),
stage of lactation (®rst or second recording period), the
interactions between all these factors when it was
possible, and error. The error term was used to test
for differences due to stage of lactation. Where the
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was signi®cant
(p < 0.05), LSMEANS test was used at p < 0.05.
Correlation coef®cients between mean body weight,
udder and milk ¯ow traits were calculated using the
residuals of the linear model for the factorial structure.
3. Results
General means for udder measurements, character-
istics of milk emission, body weight, milk yield and
residual milk in relation to lactation stage are shown in
Table 1. All udder and teat measurements, except teat

Table 1
Least square means of udder measurements and lactation performance according to stage of lactation in Murciano-Granadina dairy goats
(n ˆ 33)

Item Lactation stage (week) Mean  SEM Effect (pˆ)

Early (1 or 2) Mid (16 or 17)

Udder
Teat angle (TA, 8) 29.0 24.7 26.8  0.8 0.011
Teat-floor distance (TF, cm) 24.2 25.8 25.0  0.6 0.000
Teat length (TL, mm) 27.4 29.7 28.5  0.7 0.005

Teat surface at constant

Diameter (TSCD, cm2) 5.6 4.8 5.2  0.3 0.506
Length (TSCL, cm2) 12.5 9.4 10.9  0.5 0.003
Udder volume (U, 1) 2.5 1.7 2.1  0.1 0.006

Milking
Total milk volume (TV, ml) 504 510 506  50 0.682
Milking time (T, s) 58 65 61  4.2 0.036
Milk flow rate (FR, ml/s) 490 483 485  37 0.815
Milk yield (ml/d) 1827 1362 1594  78 0.003
Residual milk (ml/d) 150 77 113  11 0.001
BW (kg) 36 35 35  1 0.518
174 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179
Fig. 1. Changes in udder volume (a) and teat-floor distance, (b)
throughout lactation (&, early; &, mid) of Murciano-Granadina
dairy goats according to parity (1, first; 2, second; 3, third or more).
surface at constant diameter, varied signi®cantly
throughout lactation (p < 0.05). Values of teat angle,
teat surface at constant length and udder volume
decreased markedly during lactation whereas teat-
¯oor distance and teat length increased. Nevertheless,
signi®cant interactions between parity and lactation
stage for udder volume (p ˆ 0.026) and teat-¯oor
distance (p ˆ 0.012) were observed. A diminution
in udder volume in all parities studied as lactation
progresses was observed (Fig. 1a), but this decrease
was larger in the third or more parity goats (ÿ38%),
which explained the interaction. Similarly, the teat-
¯oor distance increase was larger (9%) in the third or
more parity goats (Fig. 1(b)).
In relation to characteristics of milk emission, only
milking time varied signi®cantly between the two
stages of lactation, the goats being slower to milk
at late lactation.
The teat length and teat surfaces at constant dia-
meter and at constant length were not in¯uenced by
the mode of suckling, proli®cacy or parity factors
(Table 2). Teat-¯oor distance was signi®cantly
affected by the mode of suckling, S group giving
higher values than the M group. For teat angle, the
S had also higher values than the M group
(29.07  0.978 vs. 25.00  1.078). The residual milk
fraction was also in¯uenced by the mode of suckling.
In regard to it, the S group showed a greater milk
amount for this fraction than the M group (135 
19 ml vs. 96  13 ml).
The teat-¯oor distance and the udder volume were
affected by proli®cacy (p < 0.05). Goats that had
kidded twins had a signi®cantly more voluminous
udder (2.68  0.20 l vs. 1.60  0.13 l) and a lower
distance between the teat and the ¯oor (23.57 
0.77 cm vs. 26.39  0.73 cm). The parity effects
on udder volume were not signi®cant and values
obtained were 1.8  0.4 l, 2.1  0.2 l and 2.5 
0.2 l, for ®rst, second and third or higher parity goats,
respectively.
Conversely, milk ¯ow rate was signi®cantly
affected by parity, second parity goats showing the
higher value (364  51 ml/s, 617  60 ml/s and
444  53 ml/s for ®rst, second and third or more
parities, respectively).
Correlations between measurements for udder mor-
phology, milk traits and body weight are shown in
Table 3. Only those that were signi®cant are pre-
sented. Positive and signi®cant correlations were
observed between milk yield and udder volume
(p < 0.005), between body weight and udder volume
(p < 0.005), and between body weight and milk yield
(p < 0.05). Positive correlations were also observed
between residual milk and teat surface at constant
diameter (p < 0.005) and residual milk and teat sur-
face at constant length (p < 0.05). Conversely, nega-
tive correlations were obtained between milk yield and
teat surface, when measured at a constant diameter
(p < 0.05) and between body weight and teat-¯oor
distance (p < 0.05).
Finally, it is of interest to stress that, in relation to
milk traits, teat length was positively correlated with
¯ow rate (p < 0.05) and milk yield appeared to be
correlated with milking time (p < 0.005). Milking
time was also positively correlated with udder volume
(p < 0.05) and negatively with the residual milk frac-
 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179 175

Table 2
Least square means of udder measurements, characteristics of milk emission, body weight, milk yield and residual milk according to group
and the effects of group (G), prolificacy (Pr) and parity (Pa)

Measurements Group Effect (pˆ)

Suckling (n ˆ 15) Milking (n ˆ 18) Gr Pr Pa

Mean SEM Mean SEM

Udder
Teat angle (TA, 8) 29.4 1.7 25.8 1.3 0.017 0.641 0.844
Teat-floor dist. (TF, cm) 27.1 1.2 24.3 0.9 0.014 0.032 0.431
Teat length (TL, mm) 27.3 1.5 28.8 1.1 0.426 0.592 0.923

Teat surface at a constant

Diameter (TSCD, cm2) 5.0 0.7 5.0 0.5 0.915 0.535 0.611
Length (TSCL, cm2) 12.3 1.2 10.9 0.9 0.766 0.227 0.488
Udder volume (U, 1) 2.2 0.2 2.1 0.2 0.863 0.000 0.106

Milking
Total milk volume (TV, ml) 522 110 494 80 0.946 0.456 0.102
Milking time (T, s) 66 10 60 7 0.647 0.923 0.268
Milk flow rate (FR, ml/min) 463 70 499 51 0.390 0.423 0.014
Milk yield (ml) 1733 192 1679 142 0.830 0.208 0.062
Residual milk (ml) 105 16 61 11 0.023 0.123 0.209
Body weight (kg) 35 2 35 1 0.438 0.131 0.026

tion (p < 0.005). Given the very high correlation 4. Discussion

between milk yield and total volume of the machine
milk fraction (p < 0.005), most of the correlations with
other parameters were similar for both variables.
Nevertheless, only total volume of the machine milk
fraction was positively correlated with ¯ow rate
(p < 0.05) and negatively with the residual milk frac-
tion (p < 0.05).
The decrease in milk production throughout lacta-
tion caused modi®cations in udder traits probably as a
result of the decrease in udder secretory tissue (Knight
and Wilde, 1993). Values of teat angle, teat surface at
constant length, udder volume, milk yield and residual
milk decreased markedly between udder morphology

Table 3
Correlation coefficients among udder measurements, characteristics of milk emission, body weight, residual milk and milk yield in Murciano-
Granadina dairy goats (n ˆ 33)

Itema TF TL TSCD TSCL U TV T BW

TSCL ÿ0.02 ÿ0.61c 0.70c

TV ÿ0.30 0.30 ÿ0.24 ÿ0.30 0.70c
T ÿ0.17 ÿ0.07 ÿ0.39 ÿ0.22 0.51b 0.77c
FR ÿ0.13 0.55b 0.10 ÿ0.20 0.42 0.53b ÿ0.07
BW ÿ0.46b 0.08 0.01 ÿ0.12 0.80c 0.41 0.34
RM 0.20 0.00 0.58c 0.47b ÿ0.19 ÿ0.48b ÿ0.64c 0.22
MY ÿ0.15 0.19 ÿ0.47b ÿ0.39 0.69c 0.81c 0.69c 0.51b
a
TF ˆ teat-floor distance, TL ˆ teat length, TSCD ˆ teat surface at a constant diameter, TSCL ˆ teat surface at a constant length, U ˆ udder
volume, TV ˆ total volume of the machine milk fraction, T ˆ milking time, FR ˆ milk flow rate, BW ˆ body weight, RM ˆ residual milk,
MY ˆ milk yield.
b
p < 0.05.
c
p < 0.005.
176 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179
recordings (15, 25, 32, 23 and 49%, respectively),
whereas teat-¯oor distance and teat length increased
(7 and 8%, respectively). The udder volume diminu-
tion was also reported by other authors (Anderson and
Wahab, 1990) in Toggenburg, Nubian, Saanen and
French Alpine dairy breeds. The teat angle also
diminished throughout lactation due to the tissue
distention as a consequence of the weight of the milk
and the intensive use of the milking machine or
suckling and their repeated pulling on the tissues.
Nevertheless, teat-¯oor distance increased as the stage
of lactation advanced due to the decrease observed in
udder volume and in milk yield, which compensated
for the diminution seen in teat angle. The increase in
teat length may have been caused by the suction
performed either by kids or by the milking machine
re¯ected by the diminution observed in the teat surface
at constant length, suggesting that when the teat got
longer it also narrowed.
In contrast to our results, other authors (Le Du and
Benmederbel, 1984) observed that in Saanen goats the
stage of lactation did not have a signi®cant in¯uence
on dimensions of teat traits, such as inclination,
length, thickness and volume. Nevertheless they
reported a trend to increased teat length during lacta-
tion (measurements were performed on weeks 3, 8 and
13 of lactation).
Regarding the mode of suckling, the effects of S
group on teat-¯oor distance were favorable whose
udders supported a lesser weight of milk between
the afternoon and the morning milking (16 h interval),
since they were suckled by the kid overnight during
the ®rst 7 weeks of lactation. Because teat-¯oor dis-
tance is in part a function of teat angle, the angle rise
aided the increase of teat-¯oor distance as occurred in
the S group goats. Mode of suckling also affected the
residual milk, as previously reported by Peris et al.
(1996), that increased in S group as a consequence of
the mother-offspring relationship established.
Goats that had kidded twins or more had a larger
udder volume (40%) from parturition and a lower teat-
¯oor distance, possibly due to a higher placental
lactogen secretion and milk yield. Hayden et al.
(1979) and Byatt et al. (1992) established an elevated
and positive correlation between placental develop-
ment, expressed as a function of weight or size, and
milk production. A physiological explanation for this
is that a larger placental volume can produce more
placental lactogen. The action of this hormone on
mammary tissue development during gestation is well
documented in all mammals studied thus far (Knight
and Peaker, 1982).
In relation to parity, the older goats tended to have a
bigger udder volume related to primiparous (47%) and
second parity (27%) goats. In older goats, a proportion
of mammary alveoli that developed in previous
lactations did not regress completely but was added
to those which developed in the subsequent lactation,
increasing the volume of the udder, particularly the
secretory parenchyma (Knight and Peaker, 1982).
Parity effect was also studied in Toggenburg
goats (Wang, 1989) which showed a signi®cant
increase in full and empty udder volume and also in
teat length with increasing age. However, teat mea-
surements were unaffected by parity in our results.
Distribution of milk ¯ow rate values according to
parity was similar to that previously reported (Mikus
and Mikus, 1988; Ricordeau et al., 1989; Peris et al.,
1996).
Signi®cant interactions between stage of lactation
and parity for udder volume and teat-¯oor distance
were also observed. This probably suggests that the
decrease in parenchyma volume and its activity is not
as pronounced in ®rst and second parity as it is in third
parity goats. Knight and Wilde (1993) found that in
®rst parity animals the udder did not completely revert
to its virgin state, although they did not mention this
effect on the other parities. Conversely, our results
show that teat-¯oor distance was augmented through-
out lactation, the increase being larger in the third or
higher parity goats. This may be due to changes in
volume of milk and tissue elasticity in the udder
among parities. Therefore, when milk production
increases the udder falls in third or more parity goats,
whereas when milk yield is not high the udder is
capable of maintaining its shape.
In reference to the relationships observed between
udder volume and milk yield, our results agree with
Linzell (1966) and Gall (1980). These authors calcu-
lated correlation coef®cients greater than 0.50. Mel-
lado et al. (1991) found a correlation coef®cient of
0.21 in crossbred native goats in Northern Mexico.
The correlation seen between teat length and milk ¯ow
rate may have been a consequence of insuf®cient teat
cup liner length in relation to teat length, resulting in a
reduction on the massage phase time due to incom-
 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179
plete closure of the camera under the teat during this
phase of milking. Similarly, an increase of repass milk,
obtained by hand stripping after machine milking, was
found in dairy ewes as a consequence of increment in
teat length (Such et al., 1989). This effect was depen-
dent on liner internal diameter.
Correlations obtained between residual milk and
teat surface measured either at a constant length or at a
constant diameter, indicated that udder with volumi-
nous teats retained more milk after milking. An
explanation for it could be also the insuf®cient teat
cup liner length, so that milking operation of volumi-
nous teats, especially the ones from the pear shaped
udders (Le Jaouen, 1981), may be more painful
because of an excessive entrance and posterior com-
pression of teat tissue in the teat cup liner. Consis-
tently, the pain acts as a negative stimulus interfering
with the action of oxytocin.
It was also observed that the heavier goats had more
voluminous udder and lower teat-¯oor distance, but
the correlation between teat-¯oor distance and milk
yield was not signi®cant despite the fact of the positive
correlation between milk yield and body weight.
HoraÂk and Kasing (1970), HoraÂk (1971) and Le Du
and Benmederbel (1984) with Czechoslovakian and
Saanen goats, showed a negative signi®cant correla-
tion between teat-¯oor distance and milk yield
(r ˆ ÿ0.97 and r ˆ ÿ0.41, respectively).
The signi®cant and positive correlations of milk
yield with body weight and with milking time, showed
that the heaviest goats tended to produce a larger milk
yield and, as a result, took more time to milk. These
results agree with Bouillon and Ricordeau (1970) who
reported a high correlation between daily milk yield
and milking time (r ˆ 0.62) in Saanen goats. The
authors concluded that ¯ow rate increases proportion-
ally to milk yield until teat sphincter diameter
becomes a limiting factor. Additionally, the sphincter
characteristics seem to change with age, as it can be
concluded from the results on maximum milk ¯ow
rate in Murciano-Granadina dairy goats obtained by
Peris et al. (1996). Ricordeau et al. (1989) indicated
the existence of a recessive gene (hd) responsible for a
high milking rate, the milk ¯ow of homozygotic goats
hd/hd being higher than the ‡/‡ and ‡/hd ones (84
and 57%, respectively). Most recently, the hd gene has
been also discovered in Canarian dairy goats (Caja
et al., 1998).
177
Residual milk was an expression of the milk
retained in the udder after machine milking and so
its value was higher in goats with low machine milk
fraction and short milking time. Our results also show
the increase of residual milk when the teats go deeper
into the teat cup liner, as above stated.
5. Conclusions
It can be concluded that the studied sample of
Murciano-Granadina dairy goats was well adapted
to machine milking. The udder characteristics, with
the exception of the teat size (length and surface either
at constant length or at constant diameter), did not
markedly in¯uence machine milkability of these
goats, which could suggest that udder measurements
should not be used as a major selection criteria in the
Murciano-Granadina dairy breed. Similar conclusions
were reported by Mikus and Mikus (1988) and Peris
et al. (1997) in Saanen and Murciano-Granadina dairy
goats, respectively. Nevertheless, this conclusion can-
not be generalized to other breeds in which machine
milking has been adopted recently or hand milking is
still frequent in many herds. In this sense, Canarian
dairy goats showed udder morphologies that need to
be improved (Capote et al., 1994; Capote, 1995; LoÂpez
et al., 1998).
Among the variation factors studied in our work,
only mode of suckling and proli®cacy signi®cantly
affected the udder volume and teat angle and teat-¯oor
distance. Consequently, all these goats could be
milked using the same liner type. In some cases,
the liners were inadequate and longer liners
(>12 cm) are recommended in the Murciano-Grana-
dina breed goats to reduce the amount of residual milk.
Additional research on these aspects is needed.
Acknowledgements
This work was conducted with a herd of Murciano-
Granadina pure breed goats from the CENSYRA
(Animal Reproduction and Selection Centre) donated
by the Gobierno AutoÂnomo of Murcia, Spain. We are
also grateful to RamoÂn Costa and technical staff of the
experimental farm of the Universitat AutoÁnoma of
Barcelona for the care of animals.
178 S. Peris et al. / Small Ruminant Research 33 (1999) 171±179

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