Assessment of Milking Hygiene Practices and their Impact on Somatic Cell Count in Goats under Field and Farm Conditions
Pratap Gore *
Animal Physiology Division, ICAR- National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India.
Ajay Kumar Dang
Animal Physiology Division, ICAR- National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Milking hygiene and management conditions are important determinants of udder health and milk quality in goats. Somatic cell count (SCC) is commonly used as an indicator of mammary health and may vary according to hygiene practices and rearing conditions. However, comparative information on the relationship between routine milking hygiene practices and SCC under semi-intensive farm and free-grazing field conditions remains limited. This study evaluated milking hygiene practices and compared SCC in goats (n = 56) maintained under semi-intensive farm conditions with those under free-grazing field conditions (n = 56). Under field conditions, high compliance was reported for utensil washing (100.00%, n = 56/56) and pre-milking udder washing (96.42%, n = 54/56), whereas handler hygiene (55.35% wearing unclean attire, n = 31/56) and shed drainage infrastructure (89.28% absent, n = 50/56) showed critical gaps. Mean SCC was significantly lower in field-reared goats (4.27 ± 0.02 × 10⁵ cells/mL) than in farm-reared goats (4.62 ± 0.05 × 10⁵ cells/mL) (t = 6.499, df = 110, P < 0.001), indicating better overall udder health under field conditions. This statistical difference is largely attributed to differences in housing density and feeding management, as free-grazing field goats benefit from lower environmental stress, increased physical movement, and diverse natural foraging, which positively influence baseline systemic immunity. Conversely, semi-intensive farm housing exposes animals to higher stocking densities, restricted mobility, and shed-bound feeding, increasing localised pathogen pressure despite controlled management. While strong adherence to udder and utensil sanitation helps field farmers suppress subclinical mastitis, targeted interventions addressing personal milker hygiene and proper shed drainage infrastructure remain necessary. Consequently, addressing these localised sanitation deficiencies could further minimise microbial contamination and optimise caprine milk quality across smallholder field production systems.
Keywords: Goat, somatic cell count, milking hygiene, field vs. farm conditions, udder health, shed drainage