Analysis of Management, Labor and Economics of Milking Systems in Intensive Goat Farms

Dairy goat farms are growing in the world, but their technological level and, particularly, milking equipment are less developed than those of dairy cow farms. This study aims to evaluate milking parlors in the current situation in modern goat farms and suggest possible solutions or improvements. Ten goat farms located in various municipalities of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region (Northeast Italy) adopting different milking systems (parallel milking parlors, milking carts, and milking buckets) were monitored. The mathematical model developed originally for the evaluation of milking parlors for dairy cows was modified and adapted to goat milking systems. Time for milking and final specific direct costs are the main parameters that enable evaluation and choice of suitable milking parlor; neglect or promotion of only one of the mentioned criteria may lead to an uneconomic investment or impaired operation of a farm. The research results showed that the modern milking systems, with a greater number of stalls and milking clusters, have a greater capacity and require less time for milking a goat than bucket and cart systems. The study also demonstrated that increasing the capacity of dairy goat farms enables a reduction of the final specific costs for milking

Goat milk in human nutrition

Uporabnost kozjega mleka je že od nekdaj poznana in cenjena zaradi specifičnih lastnosti kozjega mleka. Že stoletja so bolne ljudi in podhranjene otroke zdravili in hranili s kozjim mlekom, kateremu so pripisali sloves ”zdravilnosti”. V zandjem obdobju je vsevečje povpraševanje in zanimanje za kozje mleko in mlečne izdelke iz kozjega mleka tudi zaradi slovesa ugodnega učinkovanja na zdravje ljudi. V diplomskem delu smo predstavili učinke kozjega mleka in pomembnost le-tega v prehrani ljudi. Podatke o kozjem mleku smo dobili v knjigah in znanstveni literaturi. Pregledali smo literaturo in predstavili pomembnejše znanstveno podprte informacije o učinkih kozjega mleka na zdravje ljudi. Ugotovili smo, da ima kozje mleko mnogo pozitivnih učinkov na zdravje ljudi. Kozje mleko ima visoko prehransko vrednost zaradi mnogo esencialnih hranilnih snovi in je lažje prebavljivo predvsem zaradi tvorbe krhkega koaguluma v želodcu, ki je posledica manjše vsebnosti ?s1-kazeina oz. večje vsebnosti ß-kazeina. Na podlagi znastveno opredeljenih informacijah smo potrdili trditev, da je kozje mleko sicer manj alergeno kot kravje zaradi različne sestave beljakovin, vendar je primeren substitut le v 30 % do 40 % primerov. Na podlagi raziskav je ugotovljeno tudi, da kozje mleko deluje antikancerogeno, izboljša imuski sistem in zavira kopičenje holesterola v krvi.The use of goat milk has been known to be appreciated due to its specific characteristics. For centuries, such sick people and malnourished children have been treated and nourished with goat milk, which was attributed as »healing«. In recent years, the demand and the interest for goat milk and its dairy products has increased also due to its nutritional effect on human health. In the thesis, we presented the influence and the importance of goat milk in human nutrition. We provided the data on goat milk in the books and scientific literature. We analyzed the literature and presented the scientifically supported information about effect of goat milk on human health. We found that goat milk has many positive effects on human health. Goat milk has high nutrition value and is easier to digest due to sour curd formed in the stomach, because of lower content of αs1-casein and higher content of β-casein. Based on scientifically validated information, we confirmed that goat milk is less allergenic alternative to cow milk due to its different protein structure, namely its casein micelle components, but it could be the suitable substitute only in 30% to 40% of cases. Goat milk also has anti-carcinogenic properties, immunological properties and inhibits the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood