The dairy sheep industry in the United States is in its youth, and some producers have had no experience with milking any other animals previous to entering this industry. Even producers who have milked animals before might feel a refresher course in milk quality would be helpful.

Why should we care so much about milk quality? You need only pick up a newspaper or magazine, or turn on your television to be aware that the media is bombarding the public with horror stories about unsafe food products. Sometimes in the mad crush of managing our flocks and getting the milk from our ewes into the buckets, it can be TOO EASY to forget where our milk is headed; sometimes producers have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees, just because of daily stresses. Please, therefore, hold this thought carefully in your minds.

WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT THE CONSUMER. In our case, it is the purchaser of our milk product. Never lose sight of the thought that we are but a link in the long chain of getting a wholesome product to the consumer. We can also be the weakest link, if our quality standards are not impeccably high. If your bottom line motivates you, simply reflect on this: if our milk isn’t good, the end product won’t be good, there will be no buyers for it, and we won’t have a job.

What Makes a High Quality Product?

A high quality product begins with your ewes; they must be of the highest health standards. It goes on to your milking methods and techniques, and your feeding program. It continues into the selection and maintenance of your milking equipment. From there it progresses to the handling and storage of your milk, and finally, after the milk leaves your farm, it moves on to the selection of the product that will be made from your milk, the way the product is made and stored, and with all these pieces of the jigsaw fitting together perfectly, we have, Voila, an end product of which, you, the milk producer, can be very proud!

Factors Affecting Milk Quality

Factors which affect Milk Quality include management of the ewe and her health status, which can influence taste and odors in the milk. Other factors are Bacteria count (plate count), Somatic Cell Count (SCC), residues, and sediment in the milk. Excessive agitation of the milk will also adversely affect its quality (sloshing of milk as it climbs into a high line, or air leaks in the vacuum system.)

Herd Management – Quality

CLEANLINESS - Individuals who milk the ewes need to observe good personal hygiene. Clean hands and fingernails, and clean clothing should be the norm. Consider wearing gloves on your hands, and a clean white milking smock. (O. Mills)

STRESS – A dairy shepherd should understand sheep behavior – what makes them tick. Take the time to observe the ewes and how they react to different situations; by doing so one can make their behavior work to the advantage of both the shepherd and the ewes. In the sheep dairy it is extremely important to keep stress at bay all year, but particularly as you wean lambs and put ewes on the stand. Stress tends to suppress the animal’s immune system, predisposing her to illness.

The temperament and breeding of your ewes can influence how she responds to stress. Placid, calm, docile ewes will react much better, taking the whole thing in stride quite well. Keep exposure to dogs to a minimum. Adopt a milking time that will work for you and adhere to it. Milk production will drop off dramatically if the time of milking is inconsistent from day to day. At weaning, leave the lambs where they were, out of sight and hearing of the ewes. This will also help to minimize stress.

It is better to wean smaller numbers of ewes to the stand and add a small number at one time, especially when training ewes to the stand. A very good time to train ewes to the stand would be during pre-breeding flushing. If a parlor is not ready at that time, avoid training ewes during the first trimester because of embryo loss. It would also be inadvisable to train heavily pregnant ewes in late gestation. If weaning lambs and training ewes to the stand simultaneously, select the number of ewes that will fill the stanchion once and get them well adjusted for a number of days. Then add 3, 6, 9, etc., ewes; the trained ewes will help to train the new additions to the milking line.

Six weeks pre-lambing, the late gestation ration balanced to our hay test is begun. We feed the sheep their grain twice a day, which has kept ketosis from being a problem. As soon as possible, we send the ewes out on pasture, in a quick rotation. They end up at the hay feeding fence but this activity of being out, rummaging around much of the day gives them a good workout, and helps to keep lambing problems to a minimum.

Always try to keep things running smoothly. Stay patient and calm yourself, as your attitude isn’t lost on these ewes. Soothing music in the parlor can help reduce stress levels in both the ewes and the shepherd. The ewes will recognize signals such as the pulsator being turned on as a sign that they will soon be eating their ration and that their milk-filled udders will soon find relief. These routines and calm conditions promote a good milk let-down.