Lactation Characteristics in Alpine and Nera di Verzasca Goats in Northern Italy: A Statistical Bayesian Approach

Stella Agradi,Daniele Vigo,Majlind Sulce,Gabriele Brecchia,Giulio Curone,Maria Manfredi,Luisa Pulinas,Marta Castrica,Albana Munga,Laura Menchetti,Sergio Zanzani,Massimo Faustini,Alessia Gazzonis,Susanna Draghi

doi:10.3390/app11167235

Abstract

In the last three decades, we assisted in a shift in the dairy product preferences in developed countries, with an increase in goat-derived products consumption. As already seen in the bovine sector, the diffusion of goat milk consumption has led to an abandonment of the local breeds in favor of the more productive cosmopolitan breeds, with an intense reduction in the livestock biodiversity. However, in several studies, it has been shown that local breeds present unique features such as a robust behavior towards the local climate and a high quality of their dairy products. This study aims to assess the differences between the basic lactation variables (milk yield, fat %, protein %, lactose % and somatic cell count) in the Alpine goat and the local breed Verzasca goat from a Bayesian point of observation. Results indicate that the Nera di Verzasca goat has overall lactation characteristics similar toa cosmopolite breed such as the Alpine goat, except for the milk daily yield reduced with respect to Alpine goats (1.68 ± 0.84 and 2.14 ± 1.03, respectively). Moreover, the Verzasca goat showed a tendency to maintain a lower level of somatic cell count along with lactation (798 ± 1734 and 1216 ± 2828, respectively). These findings help to increase the knowledge about the Italian local goat breeds and are important in the optic of biodiversity conservation.

Highlights

Goat (Capra hircus, L.) has been, along with sheep (Ovis aries, L.), the first species to be domesticated by humankind about 11,000 years ago [1]
The aim of the present paper is to assess the differences between the basic lactation variables in Alpine and Verzasca goats from a Bayesian point of observation
On research regarding local goat breeds, a significant influence of days in milk (DIM) on lactation traits [12]; the local breeds’ milk yield was lower than cosmopolite breeds’, but accounted for a reduced number of Somatic cell count (SCC) and higher lactose. These features overlap with our experimental data: Nera Verzasca goats had a reduced milk yield with respect to the Alpine breed, but the SCC showed a tendency to be lower in the local Nera

Summary

Introduction

Goat (Capra hircus, L.) has been, along with sheep (Ovis aries, L.), the first species to be domesticated by humankind about 11,000 years ago [1]. The world goat population has been constantly increasing. Starting from 1990, it has risen from about 600 million to over one billion in 2019 [2]. The world production of goat-derived products has shown a positive trend in the last three decades [2]. That trend could be attributed to a shift in food preferences in developed countries [3] and to the increase in semi-desertic areas with impossibility to raise grazer animals, rather than browser, in underdeveloped and developing countries [4]. India and China are the countries with the highest number of these animals, followed by different African and

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