Dairy cattle should be milked as soon as possible in a comfortable environment, twice a day, within the framework of proper milking technique and hygiene rules. Before milking, in order to prepare the breast for milking, a few drops of milk should be expressed manually in special milk control cups and it should be checked whether there is an abnormality in the milk. A few drops of milk should not be milked on the ground or on the ground.
Milking Rules Poster; It should be hung on the wall so that it can be seen clearly in milking.
milking hygiene
Milker; Must have basic knowledge about udder structure, milk secretion and working mechanism of the milking machine. Cleaning the milking clusters and pipes, cooling the milked milk immediately and transporting it to the units where it will be processed in a cold environment will significantly reduce the bacterial load in the milk. In hand milking, if possible, cows should be milked in an open area, not in the barn, and odor and bacteria in the air should be prevented from entering the milk. The milking machine should always be in good working order, periodically cleaned and maintained by an expert, technician or service person. All milking machines should be regularly calibrated at least twice a year. The udder should be emptied thoroughly at the end of each milking; Because the fat content in milk, which is 2% at the beginning of milking, goes above 15% at the end of milking. It should be kept in mind that heifers with excessive fat and / or insemination in provinces, overfeeding before birth, rational imbalances and insufficient exercises will cause udder edema.
Clinical symptoms of mastitis (mastitis); Fever in the udder, rash, swelling, pain, decrease in milk yield, water instead of milk from the udder, clot, blood coming from the udder, disorder in the general condition of the animal, lack of appetite and fever. Cows with mastitis should be milked 4-6 times a day to expel the toxins formed in the udder. Mastitis occurring in each breast lobe should be considered as a clinical case of mastitis. If clinical mastitis has developed in 4 udder lobes of the cow, this should be recorded as 4 mastitis cases. The monthly clinical mastitis rate in the farm should be 2% (occurring in 1 month for every 100 cows). Each 100,000 increase over the critical threshold of 200,000 in the number of tank somatic cells (white blood cells + epithelial cells); In addition to a reduction of up to 2.5% in milk production, early removal of cows from the herd causes an extra increase in treatment costs and the spread of mastitis.
For the sustainability of productivity and udder health;
- Using semen belonging to breeding bulls with good somatic cell score,
- Removal of calves sucked by other calves from the herd,
The number of somatic cells in the milk (tank) obtained in the enterprise is lower than 200,000
- The animal litter is always clean and dry,
- Lesioned nipple skin causes a significant increase (30-40%) in the number of somatic cells. Protection of breast and nipple from lesions,
- Additives containing selenium, zinc and vitamin D and E to protect udder health,
- The herd is closed (no suspicious female breeding animals are taken from outside),
- Fighting with flies,
- Elimination of thorny bushes and weeds that may scratch the udder in the pasture,
- Treating cows well so that the milk descends easily,
- Cleaning and periodic maintenance and calibration of milking machines,
- Making the milking on time in a stress-free environment,
- Compliance with 5 Fundamental Rights in Animal Welfare,
- An average of 20-30% of the cows milked each year (old, inefficient, sick, etc.) should be renewed with young people, 3 Heifer births should not coincide in late spring and early summer,
- Not giving mastitis milk to female breeding calves without pasteurization,
- The cows with drooping mammals, too short-long teat or too thick-thin cows to be subjected to selection over time,
- During milking (leaving mastitis animals at the end or milking separately),
- Before and after milking udder cleaning and asepsis (disinfection),
- After milking, the cows should be kept standing until the udder milk duct is closed (1 hour) by locking (tying so as to prevent lying down) and feeding,
- Subclinical infections that occur during the dry period cause more postpartum clinical mastitis than new intra-breast infections that occur during the lactation period. In this context, the dry period is also prevented and treated,
- Removal of mastitis animals whose problem is not solved in the dry period and those who have high number of somatic cells and who frequently catch mastitis (more than 3 in 1 lactation),
- Care should be taken to have a protection plan against mastitis according to the recommendation of your veterinarian.