Discovering several cases of clinical mastitis in the first few weeks of calving puts additional, unwanted stress on farm staff. Rather than channelling resources into treating individual clinical cases, why not put effort into an action plan that covers the whole herd?

A simple approach is to develop a system so that your farm workers can quickly recognise mastitis problems and what do about them.

The farmers at the courses have used several measures to provide early warning of clinical mastitis problems. The triggers chosen have included:

• If more than 3 clinical cases occur within the first 50 calvings
  (it is worthwhile investigating this rate of clinical mastitis)

• If more than one case in three needs a second course of antibiotic treatment
  (this suggests the treatment has not been as successful as it could be)

• If some of the heifers develop clinical mastitis
  (these must be new infections and show that the problem is on-going)

• If Strep agalactiae is grown from milk cultures
  (this bacteria spreads rapidly from cow to cow and can cause a lot of clinical cases)

• If there is an unexpected increase in the Bulk Milk Cell Count in the vat
  (in herds that are usually in premium, an unexpected rise in BMCC is often due to a ‘missed’ clinical sign)

• If there are clots on the milk filter

Actions taken when a trigger ‘goes off’ vary from herd to herd, although most are directed at confirming and containing problems. For example, if the clinical case rate approaches the trigger figure (say, 3 cases per 50 calvings), milk samples, already collected from affected cows and stored in the freezer, may be sent to a laboratory for testing. Or if a lot of cows require a second course of treatment, veterinary advice may be sought to pinpoint appropriate changes in the treatment approach. 

It is worthwhile developing a tailored plan for your herd - especially if it has been a challenge to deal with clinical cases at calving in the past. Having a plan of action helps you manage the problem technically and removes much of the uncertainty and worry – you’ve already decided what to do.

Image and caption

Graph: “It is worthwhile taking action if more than 3 clinical cases occur within the first 50 calvings”

Countdown Downunder Farm Guideline or Technote
Farm Guideline 4.2, 4.3, 10.3, 13.1

Keywords
Triggers, calving, clinical cases, cure rates

Word length
386