FACILITIES AND QUALITY OF SHEEP AND GOAT MILK
The design and operation, as well as use of milking machines, plays a relevant part in the appearance of mammary pathologies
A high bacterial count in regard to milking facilities may be attributed to poor cleaning and disinfection of the machines or, some times, to incorrect design and more often to deficiencies in maintenance, mistakes in the routines applied or to the protocol for hygiene followed by the workers.
Another factor that must be prevented when the obtainment of quality milk is desired (and which is also attributable to milking machines) is their poor operation many times due to incorrect regulation of the fundamental parameters such an applying an inadequate vacuum, an erroneous relation of suction/massage or an application of incorrect pulsation frequency. All of these factors may cause several traumatic effects on the mammary system and a reaction of the immune system against an infection caused by the application of these aggressive parameters against an udder in good health. There will also be the logical increase of the count of somatic cells in the milk, and the transmission effect when diseased animals are milked together with healthy ones. (...to read more) - Authors: Hilario Ruiz-Labourdette - The right to use this article has been ceded by Mundo Ganadero magazine
