Plateau technique de la station expérimentale de Chamberet, Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Équitation, 1 Impasse des Haras, 19370 Chamberet, France.
Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'alimentation et l'Environnement, AgroParisTech, Paris-Saclay, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France.
Animal. 2022 Apr;16(4):100498. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100498. Epub 2022 Mar 23.
Research about mare's milk is mainly focused on quality and information about quantity is incomplete partly due to the lack of a consensus on the method of measuring milk yield. The live weight, body condition at foaling and age of mares are factors influencing milk yield. The influence of mare parity, however, remains unclear. Over a period of 2 years (2018-2019), milk yield was evaluated on 65 mares (51 multiparous and 13 primiparous). Mares and foals were kept in a group at pasture. One method of milk yield measurement and one proxy method were applied; milking and weight-suckle-weight (WSW), respectively. The procedure was performed at five timepoints during the lactation period (3-30-60-90 and 180 days) without repetition. The relevance of WSW was addressed by studying the correlation between the two methods on 23 individuals. Factors influencing milk yield, through milking data, were studied on 57 individuals. Data was divided into two subsets. The first was an explanatory matrix containing the live weight of mares 24 h after parturition, parity, age, year of lactation and foal gender. The second was a response matrix containing data from milking at the five timepoints of the lactation. A correlation was found (RV = 0.41) between milking and WSW at day 3, however no correlation was found for other timepoints (RV ≤ 0.15). The live weight of the mare 24 h after foaling, age and parity appeared to have a significant impact on milk production (P < 0.05). Thus, older or multiparous mares showed a higher milk yield than younger or primiparous mares. In addition, mares with a higher live weight after foaling produced more milk than those with a lower live weight. Overall, results can lead us to two main conclusions. First, the WSW method performed at five different timepoints of the lactation, but without repeated measurements, is not an efficient way to estimate the milk yield of mares. Secondly, results concerning the live weight and age of mares were in accordance with previous studies. The influence of parity was also highlighted, confirming trends showed by other authors. Age and parity are closely related in our population, making it difficult to differentially assess their effects. Being able to identify the impact of both factors independently would benefit several sectors of the horse industry from sport to mare milk producers.
马奶研究主要集中在质量方面，由于缺乏对产奶量测量方法的共识，有关数量的信息并不完整。母马的活体重量、分娩时的身体状况和年龄是影响产奶量的因素。然而，母马胎次的影响尚不清楚。在 2 年的时间里（2018-2019 年），对 65 匹母马（51 匹经产和 13 匹初产）进行了产奶量评估。母马和小马驹在牧场中被放在一个群体中。应用了一种产奶量测量方法和一种替代方法；分别为挤奶和称重吸吮重量（WSW）。在哺乳期的五个时间点（3-30-60-90 和 180 天）进行了该程序，没有重复。通过研究 23 个人的两种方法之间的相关性来解决 WSW 的相关性。通过挤奶数据研究了影响产奶量的因素，在 57 个人身上进行了研究。数据分为两个子集。第一个子集是一个解释矩阵，其中包含母马分娩后 24 小时的活体重量、胎次、年龄、泌乳年份和小马驹性别。第二个子集是一个反应矩阵，其中包含哺乳期五个时间点的挤奶数据。发现挤奶和 WSW 在第 3 天之间存在相关性（RV=0.41），但在其他时间点不存在相关性（RV≤0.15）。母马分娩后 24 小时的活体重量、年龄和胎次似乎对产奶量有显著影响（P<0.05）。因此，年龄较大或经产的母马比年龄较小或初产的母马产奶量更高。此外，分娩后活体重量较高的母马比活体重量较低的母马产奶量更高。总的来说，结果可以得出两个主要结论。首先，在哺乳期的五个不同时间点进行 WSW 测量，但没有重复测量，不是一种有效的估计母马产奶量的方法。其次，关于母马活体重量和年龄的结果与以前的研究一致。胎次的影响也很突出，证实了其他作者所显示的趋势。在我们的人群中，年龄和胎次密切相关，难以分别评估它们的影响。能够独立识别这两个因素的影响将使马业的几个部门受益，从运动到母马奶生产者。
