Important mammary anatomy info

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hillsdown

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This is a great link to bookmark or add to your favorites. It tells you more than you could possibly want to know about a cows mammary anatomy .

http://classes.ansci.illinois.edu/ansc4 ... omy_1.html


Suspensory System - A strong udder suspensory system is required to maintain proper attachments of the gland to the body. Remember that the mammary gland is a skin gland, and is therefore external to the body cavity. As indicated earlier, an average Holstein cow easily may have 50 kg (>100 lbs) of weight hanging from her body when she walks into the milking parlor to be milked. The system of ligaments and other tissues which attach the udder to the cow are critical for successful lactation.

There are seven tissues that provide support for the udder:

1. Skin covering the gland is only of very minor support.

2. Superficial fascia or Areolar subcutaneous tissue - This attaches the skin to underlying the tissue. It, too is only of minor support for the cow's udder.

3. Coarse areolar or cordlike tissue - This tissue forms a loose bond between the dorsal surface of the front quarters and abdominal wall. Weakening of these causes the udder to break away from abdominal wall. This is part of what is referred to as the fore-quarter attachments when evaluating dairy cattle conformation. these are important for keeping the fore quarters closely attached to the body wall, but are not the major support of the udder.

4. Subpelvic tendon - This tendon not actually part of the suspensory apparatus, but gives rise to the superficial and the deep lateral suspensory ligaments. It is not a continuous tissue sheet but is attached to the pelvis at several points.

5. Superficial layers of lateral suspensory ligament - These are mostly composed of fibrous tissue (with some elastic tissue), arising from the subpelvic tendon. They extend downward and forward from the pubic are. When it reaches the udder it spreads out, continuing downward over the external udder surface beneath the skin and attaching to the areolar tissue.

6. Deep lateral suspensory ligament - The inner part of the lateral suspensory ligament also arises from the subpelvic tendon, but is thicker than the superficial layer, mostly fibrous tissue. It extends down over the udder and almost enveloping it. The ligament attaches to the convex lateral surfaces of the udder by numerous lamellae which pass into the gland and become continuous with the interstitial framework of the udder. Collectively, the lateral suspensory ligaments provide substantial support for the udder. The left and right lateral suspensory ligaments do not join under the bottom of the udder, and the fibrous nature of these ligaments means that they do not stretch as the gland fills with milk. So, the center of the udder tends to pull away from the body as the gland fills.

7. Median Suspensory Ligament - This is the most important part of the suspensory system in cattle. It is composed of two adjacent heavy yellow elastic sheets of tissue that arise from the abdominal wall and that attach to the medial flat surfaces of the two udder halves. The median suspensory ligament has great tensile strength. It is able to stretch somewhat as the gland fills with milk to allow for the increased weight of the gland. It is located at the center of gravity of the udder to give balanced suspension, so that even if rest of the layers are cut away except for the median suspensory ligament, the gland stays balanced under the animal.
 

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