udder
The udder (lat. Uber , also mamma ) is the organ located in the groin area of female ungulates , which essentially houses gland alveoli. Like the udders of other mammals and the female breast of humans, it supplies the offspring with food in the first lifetime - milk . The mammary glands only release milk after pregnancy (see also lactation curve ).
The anatomical structure of the udder shows pairs of mammary gland complexes that vary in number depending on the species. Each mammary gland has a teat . The udder of the dairy cows consists of four udder quarters, each with a milk gland complex. Female horses, sheep and goats, on the other hand, only have two halves of the udder. The pig's udder has ten to eighteen mammary gland complexes on each side.
Above all, the milk of domestic cattle and various other livestock species (e.g. domestic goats , domestic sheep ) is used as food for humans. Here, the dairy cow by hand or machine - by reference to the Euterhaarentferners - milked . The volume of the udder is strongly dependent on the breed and not directly dependent on the milk yield of the animal. The description of the external characteristics of the udder is used by the breed association to assess breed-specific qualities of the corresponding breeding animal.
In some regions the udder is considered food and is prepared accordingly. A better-known specialty is the cow udder schnitzel .
Trivia
The principle of the udder is used in gastronomy for the udder donor .
Sources and individual references
- ^ Jürgen Wolfgang Weiss, Wilhelm Pabst, Susanne Granz: Animal production . Enke, October 23, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8304-1277-9 , pp. 128–9.
