Assessment of Milking Hygiene Practices and Raw Goat Milk Quality: A Case Study of  a Dairy Goat Farm in Narathiwat Province, Thailand

Panida  Paopradit; Ismaae Yosoh; Elham Waehama

doi:10.69650/ahstr.2026.4776

Authors

Panida Paopradit Faculty of Agriculture, Princess of Naradhiwas University, Narathiwat 96000, Thailand https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3488-7858
Ismaae Yosoh Faculty of Agriculture, Princess of Naradhiwas University, Narathiwat 96000, Thailand
Elham Waehama Faculty of Agriculture, Princess of Naradhiwas University, Narathiwat 96000, Thailand https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0756-9427

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69650/ahstr.2026.4776

Keywords:

Milking hygiene, Goat milk quality, Mastitis, Antibiotic residues, Food safety

Abstract

The quality of raw goat milk is largely affected by farm management and milking hygiene, especially in small-scale production systems. This study aimed to assess milking hygiene practices and their relationship with the physical, chemical, and microbiological quality of raw goat milk from a dairy goat farm in Southern Thailand. Milking practices were evaluated through direct observation and structured consultations with the farm personnel. Milk samples were collected on three occasions, resulting in a total of 24 samples for laboratory analysis. The results showed that the milk's physical properties and chemical composition were within acceptable ranges, indicating generally adequate nutritional quality. Total coliform counts and thermoduric bacteria ranged from 2.81×10¹ to 5.00×10¹CFU/mL and 3.75×10¹ to 1.49×10² CFU/mL, respectively, and Salmonella sp. was not detected in any sample. However, a consistently high prevalence of presumptive Staphylococcus aureus and markedly elevated somatic cell counts were observed across all samples, indicating strong evidence of subclinical mastitis, with mean values of 6.81×10⁴ CFU/mL and 2.83×10⁶ cells/mL, respectively. These findings may indicate limitations in milking hygiene and udder health management. Furthermore, antibiotic residues were detected in 54.17% of the evaluated samples, suggesting potential non-compliance with prescribed veterinary withdrawal periods. Overall, these findings highlight important gaps in current milking hygiene and herd health management practices, which may compromise raw milk safety and quality. Although the single-farm scope of this study limits the broader generalizability of the insights across diverse dairy goat production systems, the evidence underscores that optimizing milking sanitation, refining mastitis monitoring, and enforcing the prudent administration of veterinary drugs are imperative to safeguard raw goat milk quality at the farm level.

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