1

IMPROVE YOUR COWS’ LIFE TIME PRODUCTIVITY

Mastitis is ranked second after infertility as a main reason for culling cows. 20–50% of dairy cows are treated for infection in Europe and the USA

“Mastitis greatly affects productivity and is the largest health cost on

most farms”

2

MASTITIS IS NOT ALWAYS VISIBLE

Acute (visible) mastitis can best be described as the tip of the iceberg. The red cow may be the one that’s been detected as a mastitis cow, but underneath are several subclinically infected cows

3

Clinical Mastitis

Sub-clinical Mastitis

VISIBLE SIGNS:

Mild Mastitis:Cloggy milk

Moderate Mastitis: Swollen udder

Severe Mastitis:Loss of apetite/fever

NO VISIBLE SIGNS:

Milk looks OK

Udder looks OK

Cow behaves normally

But the cow might still be infected which affects milk quality

There are excellent tools to pinpoint cases of mastitis

80%of mastitis cases can be detected before they are

visible

4

HOW TO PREVENT MASTITIS

Carry out an annual inspection and servicing of milking equipment

“The key to prevention is to reduce the number of bacteria to which my

teat ends are exposed”

Maintain good hygiene during

milking

Disinfect all teats after

every milking

Keep equipment clean and functional

5

Environmentshould be as

clean and dry as possible

Exchange bedding material every 48h

Don’t overstock the barn

Turn bedding material several times a day to keep it dry

6

Provide nutritious and healthy feed

Treat new and severe

clinical cases of mastitis

promptly and record data

Choose appropriate cases for treatment

About 60% of all new infections occur in the dry period, either in the first 21 days after the end of lactation or around calving

7

Separate healthy cows from infected

ones

Eventually cull infected cows when you have

replacement

8

RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS IS A PROBLEM

The solution is not to increase the level of treatment but rather reduce the need for antibiotics by closely monitoring cell count

Antibiotic treatment of

mastitis is very costly and

creates a lot of waste milk

Increase efforts to identify the

chronic cases of mastitis

This will save time and money and will ensure

better milk quality

Optimise use of antibiotics. Carefully select your

treatment cases

“I don’t want to be fed with antibiotics if I don’t

need them”

© DeLaval 2014 Sources: www.delaval.com/HappyCows