Manual collection of dairy milk is old and extensive or traditional method of milk collection from dairy animals. The use of milking machine has taken over; it makes the milking process easier, faster and more hygienic. However, as a small scale dairy farm own who may have financial constraints, you can make use of manual milking known as hand milking, at the initial stage to cut cost of production since you may not have plenty animals to milk. Just ensure you maintain high level of hygiene while collecting the milk following the procedures we are going to discuss here.
How To Start Dairy (Cow) Milk Farm In Nigeria
Dairy animals are those animals that produce milk which can be extracted and consumed by humans. Cattle, goat and sheep are the most common dairy animals.
Good Hygiene Standard to Maintain
Good hygiene standard is key in dairy production. It impacts the quality of the milk, the quality in turn determines the price of the milk.
- Vaccinate the animals against specific diseases and isolate ill animals
- Clean animal sheds
- Wash the utensils and equipment properly
- The milker should be healthy, clean, have short and clean fingernails, and put on clean clothes
- Do not allow dirt from the body of the animal to drop in to the milking bucket. It is advisable to shave the hair around the udder for at least twice a year.
Milking Procedures
- Feed the animals with some concentrates or roughage. Concentrates can be mixed with water to make it easier to be eaten and to prevent dust.
- You can tie the hind legs and tail of the animal. Make sure it’s not too tight
- Wash your hands and the utensils properly
- Clean the udder and teats by rubbing them gently with coarse cloth. If the udder and teats are dirty, you can wash with water and disinfectant, and dry with cloth. Make sure you use disinfectant according to instructions on the product.
- Press the udder, get the first squirt of milk from each teats in a cup to check for mastitis
- Start milking. You can milk with full hands or by stripping. Full-hand milking is recommended because stripping is slower and can cause harm to the teats and udder tissue and therefore increase the risk of mastitis. If you are using Full-hand method, close your thumb and index finger around the teats and extract the milk by squeezing with each finger in turn, starting with the index finger first with minimum pressure on the teats. This will make the milk pressed out of the teat not to flow back into the udder.
- After milking, feed the cow with some roughage and keep the cow standing for at least 30 minutes for the teat opening to close to prevent entry of bacteria that can cause mastitis.
- Keep the collected in a cool dry place. Low temperature the amount of bacteria in the milk.
- Pasteurize and homogenize the milk.
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