Training flier on milk quality

1. Milk Quality
Improve your milk quality-increase your income
What good quality milk can do to a farmer?
1. Be�er quality milk result to increased milk shelf life.
2. Increased milk shelf life result to less milk spoilage.
3. Less milk spoilage result to improved consumer confidence.
4. Improved consumer confidence result to increased customer loyalty.
5. Increased customer loyalty leads to increased sales and thus profitability of
the farmer’s dairy enterprise.
How milk quality is reduced
1. When our dairy cows are sick/infected with diseases like mas��s.
2. When udders and teats are dirty during milking.
3. When we use dirty milking containers in milking and transpor�ng milk to the plant.
4. When we use containers that are not easily cleaned i.e. plas�c containers.
5. When milking environment is dirty, muddy with off/strong flavours.
6. When milk is kept or transported under high temperatures of above 4degrees for more than 3hours
7. When adulterants –non milk substances added to milk i.e. water, bu�er etc
What to do to maintain milk quality.
+ Maintain clean and healthy cows. Sick animals can transmit diseases to humans through contaminated milk.
+ Keep a clean milking environment free from mud and dust.
+ Wash your hands with soap and clean water before milking.
+ Use clean containers for milking.
+ Cows with mas��s to be milked last and this milk discarded.
+ Milk from cows under an�bio�cs treatment should not be sold or
consumed un�l 3 days a�er last treatment or advised by the veterinary
prac��oner.
+ During milking the milker should not have long nails, cough or smoke.
+ Sieve the milk using a strainer or muslin cloth to remove solid par�cles.
+ Cover the milk to avoid contamina�on.
+ Keep the milk in a clean cool area before delivery to the plant.
+ Use the shortest �me possible to deliver milk to the processing or chilling plant.

2. Basic milking procedures to be followed when milking
Preparing the cow for milking:
• The cow should be milked at the same �me (cows get used to a rou�ne) every day, if possible by the
same milker
• Cows should be brought to the milking shed before milking starts
• Bring the cow into the milking shed and �e by the neck so that she can eat from the feeding trough
• if necessary, �e the hind legs with a rope or chain.
• Long hair around the udder should be removed
• Wash the whole udder with water, preferably running water from a tap to ensure the area is clean
• Dry the udder using a dry clean towel.
• Apply milking salve around the teats.
• Test for mas��s using a test cup or a piece of black rubber. Eg gumboots
Milking process that gives you good quality milk and maximum yields
1) Apply full hand milking
2) Milking should be done immediately a�er the udder has been dried because the ac�ons of washing and
drying the udder s�mulate milk let-down (release of oxytocin) which does not last long.
3) Applying the full hand to the teat, rather than using the fingers, resul�ng in ‘strong rhythmic squeezing’:
this method minimises damage to teats and maintains the let-down reflex and is also faster.
4) Touching or rubbing the flank of the animal with your head or shoulder is discouraged because dirt or
hair may fall into the milk bucket.
5) Full hand milking is not possible on cows with short teats and other gripping methods will be necessary
6) Milk the front quarters first (front teats contain 40% and the hind teats contain 60% of the total milk in
the udder).
Milkers hygiene-paramount in maintaining good quality milk
Wear clean clothes (overalls, gumshoes and sunhat)
• Have neatly combed hair and short fingernails
• Be able to milk quickly and evenly
• Maintain a good cow /milker rela�onship.
Do not forget the following immediately you obtain your milk
• Immediately a�er milking a recommended teat dip should be applied to each teat
• The milk should be weighed (or measured) and the amount recorded.
• The milker should wash his or her hands in water with a recommended disinfectant before handling the
next cow
• A�er milking utensils should be cleaned using a recommended detergent (for example Stericlean) and
rinsed with clean water before drying
• The milking shed should be cleaned a�er each milking
• Milk should be taken to the collec�on centre immediately or should be stored at a temperature below
5 0C if it is going for further processing
• Good hand milking techniques will greatly reduce the incidence of mas��s in the herd: all infected
cows should be treated and milked last (see leaflet on Mas��s Control)
For more informa�on contact: Informa�on Officer, EADD Kenya Country Office, P.O. Box 5201-30100 Eldoret
T:254532031274/8, E: info@eadairy.org