The dry period can be a high-risk time for cows picking up mastitis-causing infections, which often present early in the subsequent lactation.
The vast majority of farms in Ireland house cows in cubicle sheds during the winter months and these sheds play a major role during the housed period.
If not held to high hygiene standards, they can be the source of many issues on-farm, including lameness and mastitis.
Cubicle shed
Drying off on many farms will be a little different this year, with the use of selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) now in play.
But only when a cow is dried off, does the work to ensure that cows calve down without any mastitis issues next spring only really begin.
This is why ensuring that the environment the cow will be living in during the dry period has a high standard of hygiene is so important.
Before cows enter the shed, farmers should complete a number of checks, beginning with the mats.
Ask yourself are there any mats that are damaged or cracked? This could be a potential source of mastitis-causing bacteria.
These mats should be replaced before cows enter the shed to reduce the risk of a cow picking up an infection.
Mastitis
You should also ensure that you have enough cubicles for all the cows that will be housed in the shed.
Ideally, you should have extra cubicles (roughly 10%), but at a minimum there should be one cubicle for each cow.
Overcrowding may lead to cows lying in passageways and/or having issues with lameness.
It is also important to complete a number of other checks on farms before cows enter the shed.
Automatic scrapers should be checked to ensure they are working properly. If they are not working correctly, it could lead to a build up of dung in passageways.
All drinkers/troughs in the shed should also be checked to ensure they are working properly.
Supplies
It is also important, before housing takes place, to have lime on your farm that can be used on cubicles.
Lime reduces the bacterial load on cubicles and helps to prevent cows from picking up infections.
The majority of mastitis infections seen early in lactation are picked up during dry period, so cubicles need to be scraped and dusted with lime on a daily basis.