Tips for milking - Pre milking Dry wipe any debris from the teats of the cow Dip or spray each teat Massage each teat Strip each teat, check for flecks of milk that indicate infection. Dip or spray each teat again Wait 60 to 90 seconds for let down Dry each teat with a clean towel, one per cow. Towel should be moved in a twisting motion from the top of the teat pulling downwards. Be sure to clean the tip of each teat. If using milking machine : Attach milking unit Position the hose support. After the milking unit is detached apply a good post dip. Be sure to completely cover the teat with the dip. Getting ready to Milk Long udder hairs should be clipped regularly to help keep udders clean. If udders are visibly dirty, they should be cleaned with dry paper towels, if possible. When possible, avoid using water to clean udders because water will travel down the dirty udder onto the teat, possibly contaminating the teat opening. If it is necessary to wash the udder, use a disinfectant wash and dry the udder and teats thoroughly before continuing with the pre-milking protocol. After teats are visibly clean (no obvious dirt or manure), apply a pre-dip half-way up the teat, ensuring a drop is observed hanging from the teat end. Pre-dips are commercial preparations proven to be effective germicides. Common products include chlorhexidine or one-percent iodine. Pre-dips can be sprayed on or applied with a dip cup; the former method is more sanitary but the latter is more effective. If dip cups are used, they should be stored in sanitary locations, dumped and cleaned if visibly contaminated, and disinfected periodically. Leave the pre-dip on for the amount of time specified by the manufacturer this is often about 30 seconds. After that, thoroughly remove the pre-dip by drying the teat with a new paper towel or clean, single-use towel; pay particular attention to cleaning and drying the teat end. Discard the fore milk After removal of the pre-dip, milk three or four squirts of milk onto a strip cup. This is a container with a black strainer that helps identify animals with abnormal milk. Also, it is good to remove these first squirts of milk because they tend to contain the highest number of inflammatory cells if they are present. Never check milk by squirting it onto the floor or on your hand or boot-this is a good way to spread mastitis. Signs of Mastitis Swollen udder (quarter, half, or whole) Udder or teat redness Hot udder Pain when udder touched Abnormal milk (clots, clumps, blood, watery color, gas, smell) Positive California Mastitis Test The California Mastitis Test (CMT) is an easy way to check for subclinical (not visible) mastitis. The CMT system involves a plastic paddle with four cells (one for each quarter of a dairy cow). Three or four squirts of milk are placed in the respective cells and an equal amount of the CMT reagent is added to each cell. The paddle is gently swirled to mix the milk and reagent. The reagent reacts with DNA from cells. Normal milk has no bacteria and few somatic (body) cells so the CMT result for normal milk will be normal (color and consistency will not change). Abnormal milk has more somatic cells (inflammatory cells and more shed epithelial cells, plus perhaps bacteria), so the reagent will cause this milk sample to darken and thicken into a gel. Such a result is evidence of mastitis and a veterinarian should be consulted. Time to Milk Whether milking by hand or machine, milking should start 60 to 90 seconds after pre-dip removal from teats. This amount of time has been shown to be optimal for oxytocin to cause milk letdown. If there are multiple dairy animals on the farm, the youngest should be milked first and any with mastitis, high somatic cell levels, or known history of mastitis should be milked last. Milking units should be cleaned and disinfected before moving to another animal; if hand milking, wear clean disposable gloves before moving to another animal. Post-milking Immediately after each animal is milked, her teats should be dipped with another germicide made for this purpose. This product will reduce the risk of bacteria entering the teat opening until the teat sphincter closes. This product is left on until the next milking. In very cold weather, however, leave the post-dip on for 30 seconds, then dry the teats or they may get frostbitten. If animals are habituated to going to a feeding area that is protected from wind and standing and eating for 30-60 minutes after milking, this will help protect teats and reduce the risk of new mastitis cases. Iodine-based products will leave the teats looking orangey-red; those unfamiliar with dairy animals sometimes mistakenly think that milking makes dairy animals' teats "bleed," when in reality they are just seeing teat dip. Paper or Cloth? When it comes to drying teats, should one use paper or cloth towels? Either is acceptable and both have their pros and cons. Paper towels are easy and promote sanitation via one-animal, one-use. However, they are an ongoing expense and generate more trash. Cloth towels are a longer-term investment and can be re-used, but involve labor to wash, dry, and store. If cloth towels are used, they should be washed in hot water after each use, bleach added during the rinse phase, dried in a hot dryer, and stored in a clean covered area until next use. Whether paper or cloth are used, it is critical to use one towel per animal only.You know, if not handled carefully during production, processing or marketing, milk and milk products may become source of pathogens and food poisoning outbreaks. Staphylococci, Enterococci and Escherichia rank first as the agent causing food poisoning due to the elaboration of enterotoxins. The Staphylococci enterotoxins once produced, are not destroyed by heating the milk at 60° to 100° C for 30 minutes. Several enteropathogenic serotypes of E.coli have been isolated from milk and milk products. Some of these serotypes are heat resistant and survive pasteurization temperature. The heat-stable property of the enterotoxins produced by E.coli causes food poisoning even if the food has been heat-treated before ingestion. Incidence of aflatoxin, the fungal metabolites produced by Aspergillus flavus, and A. parasiticus has been reported in milk and milk products in India. Source : Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Government of India