Big picture management of mastitis at calving

Taking control

“We had so many cases of mastitis at calving we were just overwhelmed. And, we weren’t sure if the antibiotics were really working…What’s the chance of it happening again?” 

This was how a farming family from South Australia began their story to their veterinarian a few months ago. Undoubtedly, many others throughout Australia have similar stories.

Since then, the family has carefully re-thought the drying-off, dry cow and springer management options on their farm. Together with their vet, they have taken a series of steps that should prevent the problem re-occurring this year. But they can’t be entirely sure – firstly they weren’t able to get a full picture of the last season  because it had virtually all happened by the time they called for help. Secondly, some of their initial plans may not work as smoothly, or efficiently, as we all hope. Nevertheless, I think they can feel much more at ease, because even if problems emerge, the farm has changed from “reactive-mode” to “control mode”.

The key to getting on top of the mastitis problem is having a “big picture” perspective. Last year the family in South Australia was thinking about individual cows. They dealt with each mastitis case as it occurred – and that consumed all their energy. 

This year, they have new plans for calving the large batch of cows that are about to come in. They have set up a system of “warning triggers” for when things are not working. These triggers alert them to when it is time to make changes and/or get help from others.

For example, how many cases of mastitis will indicate that the family need to change their springer management plans?

 There will be about 240 cows and heifers to calve. All three workers in the shed have agreed on what they will call a mastitis case (namely: abnormal quarter such as heat or swelling, or watery or clotty milk for three or more squirts). When they get to three cases, they will check how many calvings they’ve had. If the three cases occurred in less than 50 calvings, they will shift to the next plan. These steps will be repeated for the next three mastitis cases. If the warning trigger of “3 cases in less than 50 calvings” goes off again, they will call for their vet.

As far as treatment success is concerned, they expect two in every three treated cows to go into the vat at the end of one full course of antibiotics. Detection of more than one cow in three requiring re-treatment will trigger the warning to review their treatment options. They will reassess the treatment options after each block of nine cases.

This year a milk sample from all mastitis cases will be collected and frozen on the farm before the first treatment. They may only culture the samples if the triggers for total numbers of cases, or need for re-treatment, are exceeded. If (as everyone hopes) there are very few cases and treatment success is OK, they won’t need them. Otherwise the samples will be available to quickly determine which bugs are present in the herd and which antibiotics they are resistant to. Collecting milk samples is a cheap and easy insurance policy.

Your options for taking control

Is it possible for you to implement these simple steps? First, you have to identify the strategies at drying-off and calving that minimise risk of mastitis infection on your farm. Then, implement them as well as possible. Next, you have think about what warning triggers you would use to indicate whether you need to re-assess your strategy.

With simple, consistent records, and with a pre-set trigger for the number of cases that indicates a warning, you can actually reduce the stress on you at the time – you have already planned what to do. It won’t always work out as you thought, of course, but it won’t be so difficult to deal with. (See the previous page for a sample warning system, and tips on milk cultures.)

If you don’t readily see alternatives, tap into the resources that are available off-farm. There are now over 250 professionals around Australia who have done the Countdown Adviser Short Course and up-skilled on mastitis control advice. They are vets, milking machine techs and field officers from factories, herd improvement and other service professions. You can find their names at www.countdown.org.au.  

Second page

An early warning system for mastitis

Managing mastitis at calving is easier if you plan and record some simple information about each case.

Use of a chart as a recording system for mastitis cases on your farm can alert you to a problem - allowing you to implement your management plans quickly and/or get help.

The chart also allows your staff to quickly review the triggers you’ve set for your herd. Information can also be matched up with the cows’ herd recording and QA records.

This example is based on the farm discussed in Pauline’s column on the next page.

Collect milk samples from all mastitis cases in calving period

Milk culturing is the only practical way to tell which bacteria are responsible for infections in your cows.

Countdown recommends culturing whenever a herd problem appears. The trick to getting useful information, and keeping costs down, is to collect milk samples from all clinical cases, freeze and store them on the farm. You only send them to the lab if cows fail to respond to treatment, or if a problem throughout the whole herd becomes apparent.

Checklist for good milk culture samples

• collect samples immediately before first treatment
• set up materials – sterile bottle, marker pen, gloves, cotton balls, 70% alcohol, esky
• label the bottle
• restrain the cow
• put on the gloves
• wash and dry the teat
• disinfect the end of the teat
• uncap the bottle without touching the inside of the cap
• squeeze a couple of squirts of milk on the ground
• collect the sample
• replace the cap securely
• put the sample in an esky and then transfer to the freezer
• continue with treatment for the cow

The Countdown team: Ron Harris

Ron Harris could be described as the flying vet of the far south – he and his colleagues at Scottsdale provide a veterinary service to the west coast of Tasmania. They travel by light plane and Ron is in his element at the controls above the clouds. But his other veterinary commitment is very much “feet on the ground” with the dairy industry in the northern quarter of Tasmania.

During 20 years in Scottsdale, Ron has seen the number of farms reduce significantly but the number of cows increase – corporate farms of 1500 cows have replaced family farms of less than 100 cows. As a result, herd level skills, such as mastitis and nutrition advice, have become a cornerstone of his work.

Ron has been involved with Countdown in Tasmania since the first information evenings were run in 1999. He is currently the lead trainer at the first Tassie Countdown Farmer Short Course.