HEAL ▶▶▶TH 6 tips for managing mastitis


Careful management practices can keep issues with mastitis at bay, keep production levels up and help your dairy maintain a stable profit margin.


BY DR JOHN CURTIS, AGTECH, INC.


1. Maintain a clean and dry environment for your entire cowherd


Environmental mastitis can be problematic even if you don’t have issues with contagious mastitis, which is caused primarily by strep or staph bacteria. Infectious organisms in the environ- ment can be resistant to antibiotic treatment, so managing the cowherd’s environment is crucial to thwarting ongoing prob- lems with mastitis. In general, your cows should have a clean and dry environment in both the barn and the milking parlour. Keep the milk deck clean, change parlour liners at least every few thousand milkings, and make sure cows have clean, dry bedding. Implement cubicles if necessary to encourage proper lying in, and ensure housing and milking areas have the proper drainage and get scraped of manure frequently.


2. Practice careful udder hygiene practices at milking time


Simple-to-implement hygiene practices during milking could be deemed the single most important component of manag- ing mastitis effectively. Something as simple as post-milking teat disinfection can reduce infection rates by 50%. Likewise, pre-milking teat disinfection has been clinically shown to de- ter both contagious and environmental pathogens and lead to lower rates of infection caused by either source. A few best practices to follow include: • Use top-quality disinfecting products • Ensure full teat coverage during disinfectant dips • Encourage all employees to wear gloves while treating and milking


• Keep hands disinfected after dealing with a cow suspected of having mastitis • Maintain and disinfect milking clusters. In addition, if cows have a high somatic cell count (SCC), make sure you are using a good oily antibiotic that has more staying power post-milking. You may also want to consider internal teat sealers, which can lower the risks of infective agents entering the cow’s teats.


3. Follow antibiotic therapy protocols as soon as mastitis is detected


Deviating from the general recommended mastitis antibiotic 34 ▶ DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 8, No. 1, 2021


therapy protocol can affect rates of infection. The typical rec- ommended antibiotic therapy protocol involves: • Initiating treatment quickly • Administrating all recommended antibiotic treatments over a course of time • Keeping careful records of antibiotic treatment and which cow is being treated • Testing milk for antibiotics after therapy concludes to ensure the cow can be safely added back to the milking herd.


4. Cull or eradicate cows with chronic mastitis problems


An important but often disregarded component of mastitis management is proper culling. If you have a cow in your herd that is chronically infected, you run the risk of that single cow infecting the rest of your cowherd. If you have a cow that does not respond to antibiotic therapy, consistently has high SCCs and tests positive for contagious types of mastitis, culling or eradicating the cow can help protect the rest of the herd.


5. Be mindful of cowherd nutrition and affiliation with mastitis


Nutrition plays a vital role in deterring problems with mastitis because a healthy cow has a better immune system. A few key aspects of nutrition to keep an eye on include: • Prevent overfeeding during dry periods of late lactation • Keep trace minerals and vitamin intake in check • Manage sodium/potassium intakes among pregnant cows • Lower supplemental fat delivery after calving • Monitor caloric intake and keep it high during the initial days of post-fresh.


6. Keep good records of mastitis trends among your herd


Documenting instances of mastitis and SCC counts should be a priority. With points of reference, you can identify trends in mastitis incidents in relation to SCC numbers, seasons and more. Monitoring SCC numbers also allows you to catch on quickly when changes need to be made. For example, if you recognise SCC numbers are higher than usual for fresh cows, you know adjustments are necessary for dry or fresh cows heading into lactation.


Ideally, mastitis should be countered before becoming a problem. With good mastitis management practices in place, you can reduce the number of infections and also detect cas- es earlier, react more quickly and reduce the impact across your cowherd and on the quality of your milk.


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