Anatomy of mammary gland�

• The development of the mammary gland starts early in the fetal life.
• Already in the second month of gestation teat formation starts and the development continues up to the sixth month of gestation.

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• The development of milk ducts and the milk secreting tissue take place between puberty and parturition.

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• A strong udder suspensory system is required to maintain proper attachments of the gland to the body.

Suspensory System

• There are seven different tissues that provide support for the udder:

1-) Skin covering the gland, most superficial tissue, is a minor support.

2-) Superficial fascia, or areolar subcutaneous tissue, attaches the skin to underlying the tissue and is another minor support for the cow's udder.

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3-) Coarse areolar, or cordlike tissue, forms a loose bond between the dorsal surface of the front quarters and abdominal wall. (These are important for keeping the fore quarters closely attached to the body wall; however are not the major supports of the udder.)

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Suspensory System

4-) Subpelvic tendon is 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 pelvic bone at several points. This tendon does not support the udder directly however it gives rise to the lateral suspensory ligaments.

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5-) Lateral suspensory ligament : arising from the subpelvic tendon. They extend downward and forward from the pubic area. 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 (lamellae) is an inner part of the lateral suspensory ligament also arises from the subpelvic tendon,

it 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.

Suspensory System

7-) Median suspensory ligament : is the most important part of the suspensory system in cows.

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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 cow

Blood supply

• To produce 1 liter of milk 500 liters of blood have to pass through the udder. When a cow produces 60 liters of milk per day, 30,000 liters of blood are circulation through the mammary gland. This represents a blood flow of 1250 liters per hour.

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Arterial system

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• Two major arteries carry the blood to the udder, on for each half of the udder.

1-) pudendal arteries, enter the udder through the inguinal canal.

• The pudendal arteries are branches of the external iliac arteries, which are branches of the abdominal aorta.
• The pudendal arteries make S-shaped curves (sigmoid flexures)

2-) Perineal arteries supply blood to a small portion of the posterior dorsal part of the udder.

Blood supply

Venous system

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1-) External pudendal vein leaves the udder parallel to the external pudendal arteries;

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2-) Subcutaneous abdominal vein (milk vein) exits the gland at the anterior end of the front quarters and passes along abdominal wall.

This is the large vein that is visible under the skin on the belly of the cow. It enters the body cavity at the xiphoid process via "milk wells", and eventually empties into vena cava.

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3-) Perineal vein leaves the rear of the gland parallel to the perineal artery and carries less than 10% of blood leaving udder.

Lymphatic system�

• Supramammary Lymph Node.

Teat Anatomy