This season has been a challenging one, starting out so wet and then really drying up from Boxing Day.
One issue that is occurring on quite a few farms this season is elevated cell counts and an increase in clinical mastitis. If this is happening to you, you're not alone. Here are a few ideas to help as milking winds down:
Herd testing
One of the key things we want to be able to do is identify subclinical mastitis cows with high cell counts. Herd testing gives us an accurate value cell count and also an indicator of production per animal. A more basic method would be to RMT (rapid milk test) your cows. Once we have identified the girls that are responsible for the highest counts, we can decide what to do with them.
Identifying bacteria
We have in-house milk testing tools to help identify the cause of these high cell count cows. Whether the results show environmental or contagious bacteria, this knowledge can help you narrow down ways to improve – either by looking inside the shed or outside of it. Knowing the predominant bacterial cause can also help you make culling decisions.
Culling efficiently
Certain bacteria are harder to control than others and culling may provide the best outcome. Staph. Aureus can encapsulate itself in the udder and ‘hide’ from antibiotics. If a cow has had chronically high cell counts all season, or has recurrent mastitis that ‘cures’ for a few weeks and then becomes clinical again, you might find she has Staph. Aureus. Deciding to cull her, rather than treat her with Dry Cow, would be better in this scenario.
Treating with Dry Cow
Research suggests that treating subclinical mastitis cows with lactation antibiotics is not economically viable. The best results are seen through DCT (Dry Cow Therapy) treatment. With the unpredictability of this season, we have already started having early dry cow and milk quality discussions with some farmers. If you want Dry Cow on hand sooner rather than later, please give the clinic a ring and we will get an action plan in place for you.
We have moved away from Infovet, so please ensure you allow us access to your MINDA or MyHerd apps (if you haven’t already), so we can use your data to guide the best decision making for you.
Checking the milking shed
As the season goes on, the shed gains wear and tear. So, if you do have high cell counts, a shed check will tick off the common milking machine-related causes. Remember to change the rubber liners, as use and age give them little cracks which allow bacteria to colonise and hide from wash chemicals.
Maintaining a good milking routine
After many long months of milking, people become tired. Remind staff to keep up good levels of hygiene, wear gloves, strip quarters, and teat spray to cover all teats. Check the teat spray and machine washes are at the right concentrations.
If you'd like help with any cell count and mastitis issues, please give us a call. It is a wide subject – too big to include all useful points in a single article! Plus, every farm differs in conditions and the problems, or challenges, they face.
