Having an effective milking routine can go a long way to reducing cell count issues and preventing mastitis within your herd.
A case of severe mastitis can cost more than €700 in lost production and treatment costs. Although eliminating mastitis completely will be difficult, you can reduce the number of cases within your herd.
Milking routine
The person milking the cows should wear a clean apron and disposable gloves when milking. Wearing gloves significantly decreases the spread of mastitis-causing bacteria.
Furthermore, after handling a mastitis-infected animal, it is vital that your gloves are washed and disinfected (using teat dip) before continuing milking.
Keep the parlour clean between rows; dung should be removed before another row enters the parlour.
It is also important that cows are milked in a stress-free environment. Avoid shouting or making loud noises when milking.
Playing the radio often helps to keep the milker and cows calm during milking.
Before clusters are attached to cows their udders should be clean and dry. Dirty udders should be washed and dried thoroughly before clusters are attached.
If more than 5% of the herd is presenting with dirty udders there may be an issue that needs to be investigated.
Roadways, yards and cubicles should be kept clean. Dirty udders are most likely an issue inside the cubicle shed.
It is also important that cows aren’t over or under-milked. Automatic cluster removers (ACRs) are used on many farms, but a large number do not have them.
Cows that are over-milked can have issues with teat damage, while under-milking can increase the cow’s susceptibility of mastitis.
Post-milking
Post-milking teat disinfectant is important to reduce the amount of bacteria present on the cow’s teat.
It is important that it is completed correctly to obtain the maximum benefit.
It is also important that the area where the cows exit the parlour is clean. Ideally, cows should be allowed to return back to the paddock straight after milking.
The sphincter canal remains open after milking so reducing the amount of potential mastitis-causing bacteria is important.
Mastitis
It is important that you continually monitor your cows for signs of mastitis as most clinical cases are easily detected.
Sub-clinical cases are harder to detect. Because of this, milk recording and the use of a California milk test (CMT) are important tools to use.
These will help you to identify cows with high cell counts and cases of sub-clinical mastitis.
It is important to have a treatment protocol or standard operation procedure (SOP) in place for when a mastitis case is found.
Treated cows should be clearly marked either with leg bands and/or with spray paint – preferably on their udder or legs, where it is clearly visual to the person milking.