I deal regularly with mastitis incidences on farm, be it cell count problems or increased numbers of clinical cases. Traditionally, I would have been prescribing antibiotics and hoping to cure cases. I have realised in the last number of years that this is an extremely limited approach to provide meaningful solutions. Now I look closely at behaviours that might be affecting the mastitis problem.
While technical advice plays a role for long-term solutions, we try to look at behaviours and habits that can improve milk quality on farm. One thing I noted consistently on farms with low or few mastitis issues was consistency itself. Repeating the same best practise routinely or daily can be of huge benefit to improving milk quality. It’s almost like having standard operating procedures around milk production.
So what are the key behaviours that influence milk quality?
1. Milk recordingEvery time we have a big cell count issue, we can do little in the short term without records of problem cows. It allows me to identify problem cows and build up a picture of a potential cause. The patterns of infection can also determine where potential issues are. It is a vital behaviour to manage and measure mastitis on farms.
2. Maintaining the machine Everyone knows that the machine is instrumental where mastitis can flare up. Getting your machine regularly serviced and changing liners every 2,000 milkings is essential. I also stress that every farmer should be able to carry out a basic audit of their machine, checking vacuum, etc, to ensure it’s doing its job correctly.
3. Having a clean environmentWe must minimise exposure of the teat end to bugs. This is really important while cows are indoors and after milking for up to 30 minutes to allow teat sphincters to close. Hygiene in the house must be maintained and consistent routines around scraping and liming alone can be hugely effective when done regularly and consistently. The peak times for environmental risk tend to be two weeks before drying off and two weeks prior to calving.
4. Minimising stress The effect of stress on cows and especially heifers should never be underestimated. Calm handling movement can allow cows and heifers to let down milk more freely, especially when training heifers to the parlour.
5. Consistent milking routine We all know in detail the impact of certain routines on mastitis, especially when dealing with contagious mastitis. Fore-milking allows let down and identifies problem cows early. Teat preparation is essential. Put a clean cluster on to a clean dry udder. Pre-dipping can be hugely helpful when dealing with environmental issues. Attach clean clusters correctly after one to two minutes of teat preparation and avoid over or under milking cows. Apply a consistent and routine post-teat dip using correct volumes and covering all four teats evenly.
6. Pre-dip and post-dip Any pre-dip should be specific for that job and post-dip also is different. The first should be short-acting, with a rapid kill, where post-dip is a long-acting effect. Regularly measure volumes of dip used, as I regularly find insufficient volumes being used.
7. Problem cows Once these ladies are identified, they should be milked last and treated for an appropriate length with a suitable tube or injection of antibiotic. Make treatment decisions in conjunction with your own vet. Also, chronic problem cows should be culled as they are a serious risk for spread. Individual quarters can be dried off, so talk to your vet about this.
8. Wear gloves The hands can be reservoirs of infection and using gloves minimises the potential for bugs to spread by hand once gloves are kept clean.
9. Dry cow therapy This has always been used to minimise risk of infection at the time of drying off. The future should be about identifying the problem cows only that need treatment and every cow should receive a sealer at drying off to minimise exposure to bugs while dry. It should be done consistently at a separate time to milking.
10. Culturing Find out what bugs are causing the mastitis, as this can sometimes aid in finding the source of the infection. It is also worth culturing problem cows at drying off to ensure the most effective dry cow tube is used on these ladies.
I know this covers lots of behaviours, but what I recommend is to find out which you need to change when you have mastitis. Then identify actions to take and turn them into good and consistent habits.
Read more
Vet’s corner: top tips for a dosing strategy
Vet’s corner: Does bad weather cause pneumonia?
I deal regularly with mastitis incidences on farm, be it cell count problems or increased numbers of clinical cases. Traditionally, I would have been prescribing antibiotics and hoping to cure cases. I have realised in the last number of years that this is an extremely limited approach to provide meaningful solutions. Now I look closely at behaviours that might be affecting the mastitis problem.
While technical advice plays a role for long-term solutions, we try to look at behaviours and habits that can improve milk quality on farm. One thing I noted consistently on farms with low or few mastitis issues was consistency itself. Repeating the same best practise routinely or daily can be of huge benefit to improving milk quality. It’s almost like having standard operating procedures around milk production.
So what are the key behaviours that influence milk quality?
1. Milk recordingEvery time we have a big cell count issue, we can do little in the short term without records of problem cows. It allows me to identify problem cows and build up a picture of a potential cause. The patterns of infection can also determine where potential issues are. It is a vital behaviour to manage and measure mastitis on farms.
2. Maintaining the machine Everyone knows that the machine is instrumental where mastitis can flare up. Getting your machine regularly serviced and changing liners every 2,000 milkings is essential. I also stress that every farmer should be able to carry out a basic audit of their machine, checking vacuum, etc, to ensure it’s doing its job correctly.
3. Having a clean environmentWe must minimise exposure of the teat end to bugs. This is really important while cows are indoors and after milking for up to 30 minutes to allow teat sphincters to close. Hygiene in the house must be maintained and consistent routines around scraping and liming alone can be hugely effective when done regularly and consistently. The peak times for environmental risk tend to be two weeks before drying off and two weeks prior to calving.
4. Minimising stress The effect of stress on cows and especially heifers should never be underestimated. Calm handling movement can allow cows and heifers to let down milk more freely, especially when training heifers to the parlour.
5. Consistent milking routine We all know in detail the impact of certain routines on mastitis, especially when dealing with contagious mastitis. Fore-milking allows let down and identifies problem cows early. Teat preparation is essential. Put a clean cluster on to a clean dry udder. Pre-dipping can be hugely helpful when dealing with environmental issues. Attach clean clusters correctly after one to two minutes of teat preparation and avoid over or under milking cows. Apply a consistent and routine post-teat dip using correct volumes and covering all four teats evenly.
6. Pre-dip and post-dip Any pre-dip should be specific for that job and post-dip also is different. The first should be short-acting, with a rapid kill, where post-dip is a long-acting effect. Regularly measure volumes of dip used, as I regularly find insufficient volumes being used.
7. Problem cows Once these ladies are identified, they should be milked last and treated for an appropriate length with a suitable tube or injection of antibiotic. Make treatment decisions in conjunction with your own vet. Also, chronic problem cows should be culled as they are a serious risk for spread. Individual quarters can be dried off, so talk to your vet about this.
8. Wear gloves The hands can be reservoirs of infection and using gloves minimises the potential for bugs to spread by hand once gloves are kept clean.
9. Dry cow therapy This has always been used to minimise risk of infection at the time of drying off. The future should be about identifying the problem cows only that need treatment and every cow should receive a sealer at drying off to minimise exposure to bugs while dry. It should be done consistently at a separate time to milking.
10. Culturing Find out what bugs are causing the mastitis, as this can sometimes aid in finding the source of the infection. It is also worth culturing problem cows at drying off to ensure the most effective dry cow tube is used on these ladies.
I know this covers lots of behaviours, but what I recommend is to find out which you need to change when you have mastitis. Then identify actions to take and turn them into good and consistent habits.
Read more
Vet’s corner: top tips for a dosing strategy
Vet’s corner: Does bad weather cause pneumonia?
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