Animal Health and Welfare, Milk Safety and Hygiene Practices in Dairy Cattle Farms: Türkiye Sample

Dairy farming is one of the agricultural activities with high added economic value. Remarkable technical and economic developments have occurred in the dairy cow farming sector through subsidies. However, it is difficult to say that Türkiye has reached the level of developed countries in terms of productivity, quality, and hygiene practices in dairy cattle farming. In this study, it was aimed to determine the factors affecting the consciousness levels of dairy cow raisers about the practices related to animal health and welfare in addition to milk safety and hygiene in dairy cow farming. The study was conducted in three districts of Samsun province. The data were collected from 82 dairy cattle farms according to the stratified random sampling method. The results showed that 69.51% of the farms have milking units, 51.22% have delivery rooms, 52.44% calf cages, 80.49% infirmary, and 81.71% walking areas. While udder cleaning was carried out in all dairy farms, the udder drying procedure was applied in 74.39% of the farms. The percentage of the farms with mastitis control (3.66%), wearing gloves (3.66%), and wearing milking outfits (8.54%) were found to be quite low. In the study, the factors such as duration of education, membership in the milkdairy production association, and dairy cow breeding experience affect the consciousness level of the dairy cow breeders. It is essential to raise awareness level of milk safety and hygiene in terms of protecting public health, rehabilitating barn conditions, and maintaining animal welfare.