Milk production potential, quality of raw milk and reproductive efficiency of dromedary camels (Camelus Dromedarius)

Old world camelids (Dromedary and Bactrian camels) are important source of milk in rural areas of many arid countries. However, extensive production system cannot guarantee constant quality and quantity raw milk for the market. Development of the world first large scale-camel milking farm in Dubai draws attention to camels as potential source for high quality milk and meat in developing countries. This presentation summarizes the development and results of the project. Animals: Intensive management and production require concentration of camels. Camels arrived to the farm from different countries of the region with variable age, condition and lactation stage resulting in great range in individual milk production. In practice, history of the purchased animals (health status, previous production) is not available. Despite the negative preconception, camels can be trained successfully to adopt the machine milking technology. Training takes 1-4 weeks depending on the background of the animal. So far we have trained more than 1400 camels for machine milking. Infectious disease control, general and udder health: Due to lack of history, it is extremely important to establish and maintain strict quarantine. Infectious diseases (Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Surra, FMD etc.) are monitored with serological tests. The main problem is that most of the tests are not validated for camels and kits from different manufacturers may give controversial results. The prevalence of Brucellosis exceeded 30% in purchased animals from certain regions. Udder health is also monitored carefully. In previously hand milked, multiparous camels, teats are frequently enlarged/deformed or the udder is infected with pathogen bacteria (Str. agalactiae, Str. bovis, Corynebacterium amycolatum, Staph. aureus, etc.). In a recent survey, 21.8% (54 camels) of 248 new lactating animals were infected. These camels should be either rejected or treated before starting machine milking. Adaptation of milking technology, milk production, husbandry and management: first, milking parlour had to be designed that is comfortable and suitable for different sizes of camels. We have developed a 2 x 24 herringbone parlour. Commercially available, standard milking equipments is used but adapted to the physiology of dromedaries. Milking liners and claw were selected carefully or developed because of the anatomical features of camel udder. There is a great variation in size of teats between individuals (length: 7.1 ± 2.22 cm, mean ± SD, 2.93-16.0 cm). In addition, teats undergo significant increase in size (length by 50%) and volume (by 170%) during milk letdown. Camels have limited cistern volume so initiation of milk letdown reflex is crucial. Traditionally it is induced by the suckling effect of the calf, but this is impossible to do in the parlour. This fact highlights the importance of well-trained milkers who can carry out efficient manual udder and teat stimulation for a long time (mean ± SD: 123.2 ± 84.4 sec) and fast and also precise milking (mean ± SD: 126.9 ± 41.1 sec). At present, the average daily milk production per camel is 7.2 ± 0.14 kg (± SEM), mean length of lactation is 340 ± 7.9 d (± SEM) and mean total production per lactation is 2,467 ± 79.4 kg (± SEM). So far, the highest and lowest production were: lactation average 14.8 kg and 2.9 kg milk/d; total production 8002 kg and 919 kg; length of lactation 541 and 312 d, respectively. Dams and calves are kept in adjacent paddocks throughout lactation and are allowed together after each milking. Every day they go for a one-hour walk. Staff is trained to take care of the animals in a gentle way to provide low-stress environment. In return, camels are tame, easy to handle and cooperate well during all procedures (milking, nail cutting, rectal examination, blood collection, etc.). Food safety management system and quality of raw camel milk: In the UAE, all food producing establishment must implement minimum the HACCP system. We aimed to develop ISO 22000:2005 Food Safety Management System, which is in the final stage of certification. There is no camel milk standard and many studies are required to establish the normal range and acceptable limits for chemical and microbiological content, SCC, etc. in raw camel milk. The total viable count (TVC) of our bulk tank milk is 4,340 ± 86 cfu/ml (mean ± SEM) and the somatic cell count (SCC) is 388,826 ± 5255 cells/ml (mean ±SEM). (author)