Body measures and milk production, milk fat globules granulometry and milk fatty acid content in Cabannina cattle breed

Aim of the study was to achieve scientific information about body measures and milk production of Cabannina cattle, a local breed reared in northern Italy. Fourteen body measures and five morphologic indexes were recorded from 86 heads enrolled in the herd book. Low differences between males and females of the same age-class were shown. Body measures were generally greater than those reported in previous studies, probably due to recent crosses. With reference to milk production, 991 test-day records from 128 lactations of 59 cows were analysed. Average milk daily production was 8 kg/d in 1st lactation to 10.61 in 3rd (P<0.05); the parameters of the Wood equation draw atypical curves with the exception of curves from spring calving cows. Only 74.5% of lactations with an adjusted R2 >0.75 showed a standard curve, with low persistence (7.7%), high value of d at peak (103 d) and peak production of 20.18 kg of milk. Moreover, 100 milk samples (40 to 220 d of lactation) were submitted to a granulometric survey by laser scatter technique in order to evaluate the dimensions of fat globules; then milk fat was analyzed by gas chromatography, and desaturase indexes were determined. Cabannina cows showed small fat globules with high specific surface. Furthermore mean diameter of milk fat globules decreased during lactation then rose. Milk fat contained high levels of cis-MUFA, and high desaturase indexes. In conclusion, the low size of Cabannina cattle orients for a limited meat production. Instead milk production has a higher economic potential, aimed at cheese production and human nutrition.