Post-milking teat disinfectant plays a vital role in the control of potential mastitis-causing bacteria on dairy farms.
The period after milking poses a high risk for cows picking up infection, as it takes the teat sphincter muscle around 30 minutes to close after milking.
On many farms, this 30-minute period cows could taken place when the cow is in a yard waiting to go back to grass or walking on farm roadways – both of which are potential infection risks.
Teat disinfection is an integral part of good milking practice and adequate teat care is vital in any mastitis control programme to:
- Reduce bacterial load;
- Improve teat skin condition;
- Produce high-quality milk.
Teat disinfectant
To help protect cows during this period of high-risk, many farmers will use a post-milking disinfectant in the form of a spray or dip.
It is important that the teat disinfectant is applied straight after the cluster has been removed from the cow, before the sphincter canal starts to close.
Applying the disinfectant straight away reduces the amount of time bacteria has to enter the teat opening.
Spraying should be done before cows move off and are directed upwards, and the whole area of the teat should be covered.
Teat dipping can also be used to get a disinfectant onto a cow’s teat post-milking; it offers farmers better teat coverage, but takes more time.
There is also an increases risk of bacteria being spread from cow to cow, if the teat-dip cup is not cleaned between milking’s.
Checks
As the new milk-production season gets underway on farms, it is a good time to determine the effectiveness of your post-milking teat disinfectant application.
This should be continually monitored throughout the milk production season on farms.
For a dip you should be using 10ml/cow, while it should be 15ml/cow for a spray. Based on your herd size you should be able to determine if you are using the correct rates.
You should also be checking that you are getting full-coverage of cows’ teats. To do this you should spray/dip the teat as normal and then using a paper towel remove the disinfectant.
There should be an even coverage of the teat; if not, repeat the process until there is.
A small change in the way you apply the spray can make it more effective and should reduce the bacteria present on the cow’s teat.