Proper milking procedures are essential to minimiz-ing the risk of a bacterial infection that could cause mastitis. At the end of this chapter is an outline of a
GuiDe To CRiSiS MAnAGeMenT oF SoMATiC Cell CounTS in GoATS 75 good milking procedure. It also elaborates the
pro-cedure and explains why steps are done in the order given. Feel free to copy these pages and post them in your milking area. the goal is to milk clean, dry, sanitized teats. Be sure that you examine the teat ends as well as the sides of the teats after they have been prepped, to determine that the ends are clean.
Make sure the teat dip you are using is effective as shown by protocols recommended by the National Mastitis Council. Your route supplier should be able to show you the results of the study in which the dip you’re buying was tested according to those proto-cols, usually performed by a University. Dips that have not been tested against those protocols may be effective, but without the independent verification the protocols provide, they are an added risk. Elimi-nating unknowns is especially important if you are having problems.
After an exclusion (when milk produced on a farm is not allowed to be sold because of repeated tests with high SCC) there is a temporary reinstate-ment followed by accelerated sampling period where four samples will be taken in a 21-day period with no more than one per day or two in any week.
photo 12.1 Goat udder.
If any of these are high, you will again be excluded until the count is consistently below the legal limits.
Clean, dry, well-nourished, and comfortable dairy animals are less likely to develop problems from mastitis and many other disease problems.
Bacteria need moisture, warmth, and nutrients to multiply, and, while all of these are present in a dairy barn, measures can be taken to minimize them. Some bacteria will double every 20 minutes under the right conditions. Have the nutritive value of your forages analyzed and get a nutritionist to review the adequacy of your doe’s dry and lactating rations, including micronutrients such as vitamin E, selenium, zinc, and copper. Dry-matter calcula-tions should be performed on feed at a variety of times through the season to make sure the proper amounts are being fed. Udders should be clipped to minimize the risk of hair interfering with the sani-tizing and milking processes.
photo 12.2 Goats on bedded pack.
Goats do not typically use stall barns, but are housed on bedded packs. this is much more feasible for small ruminants, as their manure is much dryer than cows’ manure. However, regular cleaning and bedding of the barn is still needed, and overcrowd-ing can be a major problem. the principle of clean, dry, and comfortable still applies. the pack needs regular attention; bedding should be added daily and grooming performed to minimize areas where animals may get dirty.
76 A GuiDe To STARTinG A CoMMeRCiAl GoAT DAiRy
Feeding areas should be in a different area than the packs, when practical. It is best for the animals to walk some distance from the feeding area to the pack, as most of the manure will be in the feeding area and can be scraped out daily. Water fountains should also be off the pack. Free stalls are being investigated as a dryer and more comfortable alter-native, but not enough data is available to make specific recommendations.
Milking system
two or more times every day, your milking sys-tem harvests the crop that pays your livelihood.
It is essential that the system be in good working order. It needs to provide stable vacuuming, ade-quate pulsation, and gentle milking action. Have your milking machine dealer test your system every 1,200 hours of operation, or annually, whichever is shorter.
Claws should have adequate capacity for efficient throughput of the milk or be designed not to need capacity (quarter milkers, etc.). If clawless milking is used, the milk hose from the inflation to the milk fork should be at least 3 feet long, or provide special pulsation, like a periodic air inlet.
Milking systems for goats should run at about 10 to 12 inches of claw (or milk tube) vacuum and may use considerably more units per slope than for sys-tems for cows do. For more detailed information on small ruminant milking systems, refer to the Dairy Practices Council Guideline #70 (www.dairypc.org).
Depending on design, slope, and milk flow rates, goats should use approximately the following lengths of line: udder. this, along with smaller teat size, makes a faster pulsation acceptable. For goats typical pulsa-tion would be from 60 to 90 pulsapulsa-tions per minute (PPM). Caution: Speeding a pulsator designed to run at 60 PPM to 120 PPM may not give adequate rest phases or adequate milk phases. It is best to use a pul-sator designed to run at those higher speeds or have a dealer graph the pulsator in question to make sure it is functionally adequate. Inflations need to be sized for the herd involved. Some goat herds are successfully using cow inflations; however, as the herd’s genetics are improved, a larger percent of the animals will have a consistently sized teat and may need to use a liner designed for goats. talk with your equipment supplier about the options available.
prudent Treatment plan
A treatment plan for mastitis should be devel-oped with your veterinarian before problems start.
It should include the following:
• what to do when specific problems occur;
• who will do the treatment;
• what records and withholding procedures will be used;
• a dry animal therapy program.
culling
Cull those animals that repeatedly have mastitis problems. At times high SCC problems are from a poor culling and treatment plan more than from new infections. If high SCC animals are not culled, the percentage of high SCC animals increases, as does bulk tank SCC, as new infections occur. A rule
photo 12.3 Milking claw.
GuiDe To CRiSiS MAnAGeMenT oF SoMATiC Cell CounTS in GoATS 77 of thumb to judge your mastitis program is that you
should not be treating more than 1% of your ani-mals for mastitis in any one month, and only half of those should be new cases. If you are treating more than that, you should contact your veterinarian and investigate why you have such a high infection rate.
records
Good records are important in the long-term strategy to maintain low SCC. Keep accurate records of all treatments, including which half what medi-cines were used, and the date. Production records and other animal health records are also important for any herd breeding plans and culling decisions.
they records can help identify trends that can be corrected through management.