Bulk Tank Milk Quality With Respect to Udder Health Status in Machine Milked Dairy Cow Herds

The present study was undertaken at 10 machine milked dairy cow herds in various districts of Punjab (India) in order to assess bulk tank milk quality and its relation with udder health. A total 207 ‘HF’ × ‘Sahiwal’ cross-bred dairy cow in milk were studied. Mean ± SD for log10 somatic cell count (BTSCC) and log10 total bacterial count (BTTBC) of farm bulk milk from different machine milked farms were found to be 5.68 ± 0.31 cells/ml and 6.03 ± 0.78 cfu/ml, respectively. A high correlation (r = 0.79) was observed between SCC and mastitis prevalence, but a comparatively low correlation (r = 0.61) was noticed between BTTBC and mastitis prevalence. A correlation of r = 0.57 was observed between bulk tank milk TBC and SCC. The study concluded that BTSCC can be used to monitor milk quality and udder health status of the dairy farms.