HYGIENE CONDITIONS BY MILKING CHAIN IN ORGANIC SHEEP FARMS.

The research was performed in sheep conventional, conversion and organic certified farms, 12 by each category, before and after milking, including: The hygiene of the mammary gland and milking men hands was estimated by the presence of the: coliphorm bacteria/1 mL washing liquid, Salmonella/5 mL washing liquid and coagulaso-positive staphylococcus/4 mL washing liquid. The hygiene of the milking duishes, was determined based on UFC/cm² and presence of the coliphorms/10 cm². 2 milking houses, 16 sheep and 4 milking dishes by farm were examined. The data were interpreted according to the M.S. Order no.975/1998 and were grouped in: good and very good, middle and precarious hygienic conditions (Table 1). Our research show that in organic certified farms, the hygienic conditions recorded during milking are superior compared to the other types of farms, concerning the hygiene of the milking men and milking dishes, especially. However, deficiencies concerning the hygiene of the mammary gland and number of milk samples with more than 3 millions UFC/mL and over 2 millions SC/mL were recorded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]