Stable First- and Last-Entry Behaviour into the Milking Parlour Is Associated with Temperament and Udder Health Indicators in Lacaune Dairy Ewes

This study evaluated whether stable first- and last-entry behaviour into the milking parlour is associated with behavioural traits, milk production, udder health, and milk quality in Lacaune dairy ewes. A total of 246 ewes were monitored during lactation, and animals showing highly consistent first- or last-entry behaviour across six observations were selected. The final dataset included 18 first-entry ewes (FG) and 23 last-entry ewes (LG). FG ewes were heavier than LG ewes (62.11 ± 5.25 vs. 56.83 ± 4.94 kg; p = 0.002) and had higher temperament scores, indicating calmer behaviour (4.00 ± 1.08 vs. 2.96 ± 1.26; p = 0.011). In unadjusted comparisons, FG ewes showed higher daily milk yield (1.20 vs. 1.04 kg/day), lactation milk yield (200.31 vs. 147.30 kg), and longer lactation length (167.78 vs. 143.96 days; p < 0.05). After adjustment for body weight, age, parity, and temperament, these differences were no longer significant, suggesting that they mainly reflected animal-level characteristics. Among udder health indicators, electrical conductivity remained lower in FG ewes after adjustment (3.72 ± 0.08 vs. 4.03 ± 0.07 mS/cm; p = 0.012), whereas log10-transformed somatic cell count (LSCC) differed only numerically. FG milk samples also showed fewer udder pathogen-positive results than LG samples (4.6% vs. 16.7%; p = 0.012), although these findings should be interpreted as exploratory sample-level associations. Milk fat and protein percentages did not differ between groups. Fatty acid differences were nominally significant but not after multiple-testing correction. Overall, stable entry behaviour reflected temperament and selected udder health indicators, whereas its relationship with milk production was mainly explained by animal-level characteristics.