🐄 The Complete Guide to Milking Hygiene on Dairy Farms 🐄

Milking hygiene is crucially important on dairy farms to ensure the health and wellbeing of the herd, maximize milk production, and produce high-quality milk. In this complete guide, we will cover everything you need to know as a dairy farmer or farm worker to implement proper milking hygiene protocols. 🧼🥛

Why Milking Hygiene Matters

Maintaining excellent hygiene during milking prevents the spread of contagious mastitis-causing pathogens like Streptococcus uberis and Staphylococcus aureus. 🦠 These bacteria can lead to inflammation and infection of the udder, reducing milk yield and quality.

Proper milking hygiene also:

• Prevents harmful residues like antibiotic or cleaning chemicals from contaminating the milk. This ensures the milk is safe for consumers. 🥛

• Reduces the risk of transmitting diseases like bovine tuberculosis between animals during the milking process. 🐄

• Helps produce milk with lower somatic cell counts and bacteria counts, meeting higher quality standards. 📈

• Improves milk taste by preventing off-flavors and spoilage organisms. 👅

• Extends the shelf life of pasteurized milk and dairy products. 🗓

• Builds trust and reputation with milk buyers, inspectors, and consumers who demand high standards. 🤝

In summary, excellent milking hygiene is vital for healthy, productive cows and safe, quality milk. ✅ It should be a top priority on every dairy farm. 🏡

Key Areas of Focus

There are four main areas where milking hygiene should be focused on dairy farms:

1. Cow Hygiene

Cows need to be clean before milking to avoid contaminating the milk. Important practices include:

• Grooming cows by trimming tail hair and cleaning udders. This removes dirt, mud, and manure. 💇‍♀️

• Using udder wash systems to spray and sanitize teats pre-milking. Common disinfectants used are iodine, chlorhexidine, or hypochlorite solutions. 🧴

• Dry wiping or drying teats thoroughly before milking, especially when using wet wash systems. This prevents milk contamination. 🧻

• Treating or culling cows with chronic mastitis to eliminate sources of contagious pathogens. 💉

• Avoiding overcrowded housing conditions which increase risk of environmental mastitis. 🏠

2. Equipment Hygiene

The milking equipment like cups, pipes, and bulk tank must be properly cleaned and sanitized:

• Follow the CIP (clean-in-place) procedures for the milking system after every milking session. Use the right detergents and sanitizers. 🧽

• Take apart equipment like rubber liners and check valves regularly to remove milk residue and biofilms. Then soak and scrub clean. 🔧

• Replace cracked inflations and other worn parts promptly to avoid bacteria harborage sites. 🪛

• Swab and culture samples from equipment weekly to monitor cleanliness and sanitizing efficacy. 🧫

• Maintain volumetric counters, meters, and milk cooling equipment in good working order. ⚙️

3. Milking Routine Hygiene

The milking process and habits of the milking staff impact hygiene:

• Ensure staff wash and dry hands thoroughly before milking. 🧴✋

• Check foremilk and strip quarantine milk from cows with clinical mastitis. 🥛🐄

• Use separate gloves and paper towels for infected cows to avoid spreading pathogens. 🧤🧻

• Keep cows calm and avoid over-milking to prevent teat injuries and mastitis risk. 🐮

• Dip teats immediately after milking in an approved disinfectant like iodine. 🧴

• Keep the parlor clean, dry, and well-lit to allow thorough monitoring. 🧹💡

4. Milk Storage Hygiene

Proper handling and storage of milk prevents contamination and deterioration:

• Rapidly cool milk to ≤ 4°C / 39°F and maintain cold chain until processing. 🥶

• Store milk using clean, sanitized tanks and containers made of approved materials (stainless steel, glass). 🥛

• Frequently sample and test stored milk for bacterial growth, somatic cells, antibiotics, freezing point, and adulterants. 🧪

• Label and track milk batches properly, and follow FIFO (first-in, first-out) usage system. 🏷

• Keep storage rooms and tanks clean, cold, locked and pest-free. Monitor temperature logs. 🔐❄️🐭

8 Key Practices for Milking Hygiene

Here are 8 key practices dairy producers should implement for excellent milking hygiene:

1. Use Adequate Teat Disinfection

Thoroughly disinfect each teat with an approved sanitizer both before milking (pre-dip) and immediately after milking (post-dip). Pre-dipping removes surface dirt and kills bacteria. Post-dipping kills any pathogens introduced during milking and protects the teat canal from infection. For best results, leave post-dip on the teat for at least 30 seconds before removing. Iodine dips are commonly used but must be monitored daily and maintained at proper concentration.

2. Wash Hands Properly

Washing hands properly between cows during milking prevents spreading pathogens. Use warm water, soap, scrub palms and back of hands for 20 seconds, rinse completely, and dry hands with disposable towels. Alternatively use alcohol hand sanitizer. Remind staff to only touch clean areas of the cow and not their mouth, nose, hair, or dirty surfaces before milking.

3. Check Milking Equipment Daily

Check all equipment like cups, pipes, plates, and rubberware are properly cleaned after every milking. Feel for residue buildup and inspect for cracks or damage. Swab rubberware and plates weekly and submit samples for bacterial culture. Monitor bulk tank temperature and agitator function twice daily.

4. Maintain Organized Records

Keep neatly organized records for hygiene monitoring like premilking teat swabs, post-dip testing, milk cultures/SCC, equipment swabs, maintenance & cleaning logs. Review records regularly to identify hygiene lapses. Share data with staff to improve practices. Track mastitis cases and treated cows.

5. Use Digital Sensors and Apps

Digital sensors can automatically track hygiene parameters like milk temperature, tank cleaning cycles, and water purity more accurately than manual methods. Smartphone apps help record data easily like medicine logs. Timely data can prevent hygiene issues.

6. Follow Proper Milking Procedures

Train staff on proper milking procedures and monitor their technique. Be consistent on things like teat dip methods, strip cup use, squirt/swab tests, equipment attachment, cluster removal, and post-milking teat disinfection. Do not allow short-cuts that compromise hygiene.

7. Prioritize Udder Health

Monitor udder health closely through regular palpations, CMT tests, milk cultures, and SCC trends. Treat clinical mastitis promptly. Identify cows with chronic infections for culling. Send milk samples from treated cows for drug residue testing before adding to bulk tank. Practice good dry cow management for the herd.

8. Audit and Inspect Operations

Conduct self-audits of the entire milking process regularly using standardized checklists. Identify areas needing improvement. Bring in third-party inspectors/veterinarians periodically for an objective assessment. Implement their recommendations to enhance milking hygiene.

Facilities and Equipment

To support excellent milking hygiene, dairy farms need proper facilities and equipment. Here are some key items to invest in:

• Well-designed, spacious milking parlor - Easy cow flow, operator access, separation of clean/dirty areas. Non-slip, easy to clean floors. 🏠

• Ventilation and air purification - Reduce airborne bacteria. Control humidity, condensation, and flies. 💨

• Utter wash systems - Key is good teat coverage, consistent dosing of disinfectant. Consider automatic backflush systems. 💧

• Detergent and sanitizer supplies - Use commercial dairy formulations. Rotate between different chemistry. Monitor solution strength. 🧪

• Bulk milk refrigeration - Sized for production. Rapid cooling capacity. Temperature data logging and alarms. Clean-in-place. 🥶

• Milk recording devices - Volumetric counters, flow meters, samplers. Integrated with herd management software. ⚖️

• Observation windows - Allow parlour observation without disturbing cows or introducing contaminants. 👀

• Potable water supply - Clean water source. Backflow prevention. Routine microbial testing. 💧

Employee Training

Thorough employee training on proper milking procedures and hygiene protocols is essential. Provide hands-on instruction when hiring new staff. Emphasize the reasons behind each hygiene practice. Monitor and coach staff during the first month to reinforce training. Schedule refresher courses annually, especially before seasonal peaks. Incentivize excellent hygiene performance. 👨‍🏫👩‍🏫

Udder Health Monitoring

Careful monitoring of udder health provides valuable insights into milking hygiene efficacy:

• Clinical mastitis cases - Track treated cows and quarters. Review frequency, pathogens, risk factors. Segregate infected animals. 🐮

• Monthly somatic cell counts (SCC) - Monitor herd and individual cow SCCs. Investigate cows exceeding limits. 📈

• Milk cultures - Sample high SCC cows to identify specific mastitis pathogens involved. 🧫

• Teat condition - Examine for lesions, hyperkeratosis, swelling. Improve pre/post milking hygiene. 🐄

• Dry period management - Monitor dry cow therapy, sealant use, vitamin plans. Prevent new infections. 💉

Cleaning and Maintenance Plans

Consistent cleaning and maintenance improves equipment hygiene:

• Document plans detailing daily, weekly, monthly tasks for areas like the parlour, milk room, storage tanks, water lines. 📋

• Describe methods and chemicals to use for each procedure. Follow manufacturer guidelines. 🧼

• Assign and schedule staff for completing cleaning tasks and equipment lubrication/checks. Review work. ⏰

• Take apart, inspect, and thoroughly clean equipment like pumps, rubberware, plate coolers regularly. 🧰

• Flush water lines and change filters as needed to prevent milk contamination. ⚠️

Facilities Design Tips

Well-designed facilities aid milking hygiene:

• Easy to clean surfaces - sealed concrete, metal walls and flooring. Avoid wood and absorbent materials. 🏗

• Sloped floors with drains and waste traps to remove effluent. 🧹

• Hose taps, sinks, and clean hot water access throughout. 🚿

• Designated clean and dirty areas to avoid cross-contamination. 🛑

• Parlour layout and gates promoting smooth cow traffic flow. Minimize worker steps. 🚧

• Good lighting and ventilation. Controlled vermin/insect access. 💡🪳

• Emergency backup systems for water, power, and milk cooling. 🔋

Common Hygiene Pitfalls

Some common pitfalls that can compromise milking hygiene:

• Using low-quality teat disinfectants or at incorrect dilution. ❌

• Inconsistent pre-milking udder preparation between milkers. 🐄

• Ignoring failures in cleaning-in-place (CIP) processes. 🚫

• Milking wet udders or teats, causing milk contamination. 💦

• Rushed milking with poor teat coverage and squirt/strip routines. ⏱️

• Not changing gloves between infected cows. 🧤

• Using chapped teat dip cups or contaminated sponges. 🦠

• Poor dry cow strategies - environments, nutrition, antibiotic therapy. 🐮

• Tanker connection issues causing backflow of contaminants into tank. 🚚

Conclusion

Implementing excellent milking hygiene takes effort but pays off through improved milk quality, udder health, and farm profits. Make it a habitual part of the daily milking routine. Provide staff training, incentives, and the right tools and facilities to support proper hygiene practices. Monitor procedures and teat health closely. Stay up-to-date on the latest best practices through veterinarians, farm advisors, and dairy hygiene research. Excellent milking hygiene takes diligence and teamwork, but the benefits for the entire dairy business make it well worth the investment. 🐄🥛👍

Here are some related resources from BDVets:

Mastitis Control Plans

Cleaning and Disinfecting on Dairy Farms

Quality Milk Production Services

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