Vet Voice: Mastering mastitis control

STOCK VET VOICE

Figure 1: When drying off, get anyone involved to spray their initials on the cows they treat so problems can be identified and training implemented if necessary.

Mastering mastitis control

Take time to understand mastitis and be rewarded with gains in animal health and productivity, says Lisa Whitfield.

Mastitis is a disease that is universally experienced on dairy farms. There is no farm that doesn’t have mastitis but there is wide variation between experiences on each farm from season to season.

Ask yourself if mastitis control is a priority for you.

It takes the investment of time, effort, and money to understand mastitis on an individual farm but the long-term gains in animal health and productivity are very rewarding.

Over the last six years I have been privileged to have worked with a number of farmers who have been successful in lowering their bulk tank somatic cell counts and clinical mastitis rates.

Some of the lessons they have learned, which they felt made a difference to their operations, are discussed here: GET THE BASICS RIGHT, PAY cups-off? Do they know how to do teat ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN THE spraying properly? Are they careful with SHED where they use wash hoses during milking?

You may know everything that is Do they know how to take a milk sample important to running a smooth operation for culturing? in the shed, but do your staff have the Machine function and maintenance same knowledge? It is important of its components is a given to that everyone involved in the most people; however, it is still milking process knows the surprising fundamentals about mastitis. how often the milking

Ensuring a good baseline machine is not working level of knowledge among correctly and problems your staff will start you off on haven’t been addressed. the right foot when it comes Make sure the rubberware is to tackling mastitis. The actions of people on the farm are one of Lisa Whitfield. changed on time and don’t crank vacuum levels up unnecessarily. the biggest contributors to mastitis problems, so you have to invest the time WHERE DO YOUR MASTITIS into getting everyone on the same page. PROBLEMS ORIGINATE?

Do they take note of the cow that is slow Which mastitis-causing bacteria are a to walk out of the paddock? Do they strip problem on your farm? If you can’t answer and paddle that quarter that is swollen at this, how do you know where to focus

your efforts to make a change?

Mastitis pathogens all come from many different sources to cause inflammation in the udder, increasing cell counts and causing clinical cases.

For example, Streptococcus uberis is sourced from the environment, particularly from cow faeces; Staphylococcus aureus is sourced from the udder of cows, so contamination comes from infected milk; Corynebacterium bovis resides on cow skin, particularly on teat skin.

If you know the type of bacteria that are causing your problems you can set up a targeted control plan that not only aims to reduce the level of infection but also is focussed on stopping cows from picking up new infections from the source.

Find the way that works for you to monitor the bacterial pathogens on your farm.

Make sure you don’t scrimp on milk sampling – take enough samples to give you a good handle on your situation. Learn how to take clean, uncontaminated milk samples so you don’t waste your time and money.

PRIORITISE TEAT AND UDDER HEALTH

Healthy teats and udders are the first line of defence against mastitis. If you have teat damage you are leaving an open door for bacteria to invade and colonise the teats and udder.

Some practical tips for healthy teats and udders include: • Teatspray – this should be applied shortly after cups-off at every milking for the whole season. Emollient is a really important part of teat health as it moisturises the skin, keeping it from drying out and cracking. Dry, cracked skin provides a haven for bacteria such as Corynebacterium to colonise the teat skin and subsequently the teat canal, which will result in elevations in cell counts. • Minimise overmilking – leaving the cups on the cows after they have

finished milking out is an easy way to damage teats. Once a cow has milked out, cups should be removed as soon as possible – the average overmilking time should be less than 90 seconds per cow. • Internal teat sealants – these should be used in every cow at the end of lactation. They provide the best protection against new udder infections being acquired over the dry period. It is critical that they are applied correctly – plan, don’t rush the job, and get in help if you need it. Mastitis is a vast subject but it doesn’t have to be complicated. People have the biggest impact on mastitis levels on the farm, and understanding what you do to influence this is a step towards understanding how you can break the cycle of infection on the farm.

• Lisa Whitfield is a Manawatu Production

Animal Veterinarian.

Herd Health. The New Frontier.

OxC-beta ™ Dairy is scientifi cally proven to benefi t animal health and productivity. The product contains newly discovered and naturally occurring substances that support immune function. A healthy immune system helps to ensure reliable productivity and profi tability. How OxC-beta ™ Dairy helps Kiwi Farmers: > Supports immune function to keep your animal’s natural defenses in top shape. > Animals with healthy immune systems are better able to defend themselves against commonly encountered production stresses. > Helps to maintain udder health and optimize milk quality during periods of stress. > Safe for use during the lactation period. > Non antibiotic mode of action – no need to discard milk. Veterinarian Scott McDougall, from Cognosco, the research group at Waikato’s Anexa Farmers Vet Clubs, trialed OxC-beta ™ on four NZ commercial farms in Spring 2019.

OxC-beta’s immune support helps maintain udder health

The benefi ts of OxC-beta Dairy supplementation on immune function allowed more cows to remain healthy.

15

% of quarters testing clean

10

5

0

Control OxC-beta

All cows enrolled in the trial had somatic cell counts >200,000 cells/ml and confi rmed bacterial infection of the mammary gland. Dietary treatment with OxC-beta Dairy 10% (3g/head/day) for 42 days.