Teat disinfection before calving – does it have a role?

A key factor in preventing mastitis is to reduce the number of bacteria present around the teat end. This is particularly important in the period from about two weeks before calving to two weeks after.

In herds that lead-feed dry cows, animals often congregate in feeding areas and their teat surfaces carry higher numbers of bacteria. This results in more risk of mastitis and some of these herds have experienced too many infected cows.

Some of farms feeding springing cows in the dairy have tried starting teat disinfection a couple of weeks prior to calving and are seeing a marked reduction in the number of the fresh cows becoming infected. Fewer bacteria on the teats and better teat skin condition are both helping prevent mastitis infections in fresh cows. 

If you are feeding cows through the dairy before calving, and have more than 5 mastitis cases per 100 fresh cows, consider teat spraying before calving as a preventative measure.