The selection of dairy sheep on calm temperament before milking and its effect on management and milk production

We studied the milk production, milk composition and behaviour in the dairy of ewes classified as calm through temperament testing. We hypothesised that calm sheep would not be stressed by milking, and would therefore have complete milk ejections and increased milk yields compared to nervous sheep. The temperaments of 95 experienced dairy ewes were measured in a social challenge 3 weeks before parturition, and their behaviour was observed and milk was sampled during machine milking from approximately 2 to 10 weeks after lambing. Based on their temperament scores, two distinct groups of calm ewes (n = 16) and nervous ewes (n = 16) were generated. There was no difference between calm and nervous ewes in their frequency of kicks and unloading scores. During the first week of recording, calm ewes were less reluctant to enter the milking parlour and, from approximately week 3 onwards, it took less time to attach the milking cups to calm ewes. There was an interaction between time and temperament on milk production, which provides evidence that the evolution of milk yield differs between temperaments, with calm ewes producing an average of 462 ± 36 g/day while nervous ewes averaged 394 ± 33 g/day. However, there was no effect of temperament or time on the concentration of fat or protein in the milk. Our results suggest that selection for temperament may play a role in moderating milk production by ewes and also contribute to their behaviour on the platform.