programmes to be completed. If you are buying in from a high incidence TB area you should consider keeping these cattle isolated until you have carried out the 60 – 120 day post movement test. This will significantly reduce your chance of introducing TB into your herd from a source herd. You will also need to consider whether you want to buy in dry or milking cows. Dry cows or first calvers give you the opportunity to isolate and give preventative treatment or vaccination for a range of diseases and have cattle out of their withdrawal periods before you start calving.
If the incoming cattle are being milked in the same parlour as the established herd, the established herd should be milked first. After the incoming cattle are milked you should ensure that all surfaces, feeders etc in the collecting area and parlour are washed down thoroughly and a TB approved disinfectant suitable for use in dairies applied to all surfaces before the next milking. You should also ensure that the two groups do not share a common water trough after milking.
With regard to disease management your vet will advise on the timings of sampling, vaccination and treatment for the risk diseases. A disease and health screening programme should be a key part of
your health plan where you take regular samples from dead, ill and healthy cattle to check for underlying problems. Areas you should be considering are milk for cell counts, types of organisms and antibiotic resistance, dung samples for fluke and worms, metabolic profiles, lameness scoring and skin problems. Close liaison with your vet through the first year or two and spending time and money in disease screening and control programmes might seem to give little in return for the investment, but in the middle of a disease outbreak with a 60% drop in milk yield and several abortions it will look a cheap investment.
The areas where cattle are mixed for the first time in both sheds should be straw bedded as fighting is inevitable. Dung will give a sound footing and easy ground for cattle to escape, but concrete floors
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