The Golden Rules of drying-off

All cows need an effective dry period to heal existing udder infections and to maximise milk production in their next lactation. Drying-off can best be achieved by following the 3 golden rules

• STOP

• SEAL and

• HEAL

1. Stop

At drying-off, the udder needs clear messages to stop making milk. The best way to send this message is simply to cease milking!

When you stop milking, two things happen to send strong signals to the cow to stop making milk:

1. Pressure in the udder increases and

2. Certain milk constituents accumulate.

REMEMBER, don’t milk cows intermittently. Milking every second day, for example, provides an on-going stimulus to produce milk.

2. Seal

There is a second good reason to avoid intermittent milking. It prevents the teat canal from sealing and therefore greatly increases the risk of mastitis in the dry period.

As milk secretion shuts down, a plug of material forms in the teat canal over several days. The plug is a natural waxy substance (called keratin) produced by the cells lining the teat canal. It forms a physical seal to prevent infections entering the udder via the canal.

According to a New Zealand study, giving Dry Cow Treatment immediately after the last milking of a lactation can significantly help the sealing of the teat canal. It’s not known just how this happens, but it is likely to be associated with a reduction in the number of bacteria in the teat canal.

3. Heal

Over the dry period, many of the milk-producing cells in the udder are removed and replaced before the next calving. To maximise milk yields in the subsequent lactation, cows need preferably 8 weeks, but at least 6 weeks, between drying-off and calving.

During this process of removal and ‘re-sculpturing’ of udder tissue, about one-quarter of cows with mastitis will eliminate the infection themselves. This cure rate can be increased by as much as three-fold if infected cows are given an appropriate Dry Cow Treatment, but only if it is done well.

The Countdown Downunder Farm Guidelines for Mastitis Control recommend practical ways to achieve each of the 3 golden rules of drying-off. They give advice on how you can take to help the udder stop making milk, help seal the teat canal and prevent new infections, and allow the udder tissue time to heal and prepare for the next lactation.

Image and caption

“Milking every second day at the end of lactation prevents the teat canal from sealing

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