Management and sanitary practices in ewe dairy farms and bulk milk somatic cell count

This study was done to establish relationships between management and sanitary practices on ewe dairy farms and the quality of milk produced. For this purpose, a survey was carried out on 118 farms and a total of 121,117 animals in the Castilla-La Mancha region (Southeast Spain) in which the veterinarians of the Association of Sanitary Defence participated. Flocks varied considerably in size, ranging from 120-7,200 sheep, with an average milking period lasting 3-5 months and milk yields of between 50 and 150 litres per lactation by mechanical systems on 75.0% of farms. Sanitary practices during milking are still not commonplace; 53.3% performed post milking teat disinfection, 37.0% did the California mastitis test, 31.1% had a dry therapy programme and only 18.6% of farms kept records of animals with clinical mastitis. Nonetheless, the results revealed that 42.7% of the farms surveyed showed good quality hygienic milk (bulk milk somatic cell count, BMSCC < 600 X 103 cells mL1). On most farms, the rate of animals with clinical mastitis was less than 5.0%, while that of subclinical mastitis cases was less than 5.0% on 25.6% of farms. Certain factors like mechanical milking, post milking teat disinfection, recording animals with clinical mastitis and controlling the frequency of animals with subclinical mastitis did not exceed 5.0%. Those risk factors for increased BMSCC levels were significant. Therefore, farmers are recommended to bear these factors in mind, and to instil the importance of carrying out these practices when implementing a good dairy farm practices system.