Milking characteristics, hygiene and management practices in Saanen goat farms: a case of Canakkale province, Turkey

In order to determine the current status of milking characteristics, hygiene and health protection practices in Saanen goat farms in Turkey, data were obtained from 92 farms through surveys in Çanakkale province. The farms are grouped according to the number of animals as small-scale (25–75 heads), medium-scale (76–150 heads) and large-scale (151 and overheads). As a result of the data observed, it has been seen that the majority of the farms (63.04%) had primary education and only 8.69% had education at the university level. While 44 farms have a milking machine or milking system in their farms, the other 48 farms use the hand milking. The 72.8% of the farms stated that they did not receive any training on milking hygiene and milking machines. Breast diseases are among the most common health problems in the farms (61.9%), followed by, digestive system diseases (8.6%), bacterial diseases (5.4%), foot diseases (2.1%) and viral diseases (4.3%), respectively. The prevalence of mastitis which is the leading cause of breast disease differs statistically in terms of scale (p < .05). In this period, the scale of the farms increased and the use of machine milking became widespread in dairy goat farms. Considering that Saanen breed goats, which have high milk yield, are also sensitive to diseases and are delicate breeds, it is important for the farmers to be educated and informed about breeding, herd management, and milking hygiene practices in order to increase milk production and quality and to prevent economic losses.Highlights The current status of milking hygiene and practices was evaluated. Mastitis was the most common disease (39.1%) observed in Saanen goat farms. To prevent economic losses due to diseases, farmers should be trained on hygiene and management practices.