The improvement of the body and udder hygiene influence on the milk safety and composition on small dairy farms in Serbia

Abstract: The hygienic condition of dairy cows and their udders in 128 small household farms in different regions of Serbia, producing mostly milk, having 5–15 cows, a milk cooler and at least one milking machine, was evaluated by the following indicators: 1. general assessment of body cleanliness, 2. visual inspection of teats and udder base, and 3. maintenance of udder cleanliness, rated on a scale of 0 and 1 or 1 to 5. The samples were taken at each visit to the farm after cooling and tested for milk protein and fat content, somatic cell count (SCC) and the total number of microorganisms (TNM). The milk fat content was determined by the Gerber method, the protein content by the Kjeldahl method, the TNM according to the ISO 4833-1:2013 method and the SCC using Fossomatic TM. The IBM SPSS program was used for statistical data processing. Capacity, housing system, breed, milking system, number of cows, and capacity occupancy mostly had a very significant or significant impact on hygiene parameters, protein and fat content, SCC and TNM in milk. The hygiene parameters showed a continuous trend of improvement in relation to the visits. TNM mean scores increased after each visit, with significant differences between visits (F=9.63, P<0.0001). SCC scores varied very significantly between visits (F=5.17, P