Why is this drying off so important?

As a result of the drought conditions again this year, cow parking will again provide challenges in drying off management.

Farms that have provided “cow parking” arrangements may start returning cows to their home farms in the near future. There are potential problems in transporting cows shortly after they have been dried off. Here are some tips:

• All parked cows should receive Dry Cow Treatment – both antibiotic dry cow treatment and teat sealants have possible roles and the decisions about what should be used and in which cows should be based on veterinary advice.

• Don’t transport the cows immediately after antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment is infused. The cows may lose most of the infusion and are going to be at risk of acquiring new infections. If cows are to be dried off prior to transportation there should be at least two weeks for the cows to stop milk production. If this is not possible, seek veterinary advice on whether the use of teat sealants may have a role for these cows.

• An option may be to milk the cows out, transport them immediately after milking, then continue to milk them at their destination for approx one week before drying off with Dry Cow Treatment.

• Herds where cows were parked should consider using a Blanket antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment strategy because they may have introduced new bacteria such as Strep ag.

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