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
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 -pressure in the udder increases and certain milk constituents
accumulate.
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.
Giving
antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment immediately after the last milking of a lactation
significantly helps 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.
Teat
sealants are non-antibiotic alternatives for use in uninfected cows. They are
made of non-irritant, non-dissolving material which is infused into the teat
after the last milking (from a tube similar to an antibiotic tube). The teat
sealant stays in the lower part of the teats throughout the dry period and
physically seals the canal to prevent bacteria from entering.
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 20
percent of cows with mastitis will eliminate the infection themselves. This cure
rate can be increased by as much as four-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
Word length
451
| 
