Mastitis Focus

 


Drying off strategies for cows in Cow Parking arrangements

As a result of the drought conditions this year, there are some entirely new 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 antibiotic Dry Cow Treatment at drying off.

  • Don’t transport the cows immediately after 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. 

  •  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 a g.


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