Treating and managing cases of mastitis in a freshly-calved herd can be a nightmare - especially when there is no way of telling if the first few cases represent only the tip of the iceberg. To avoid being overwhelmed with mastitis at calving, it pays to put energy into prevention.

A good starting point is to give fresh cows a little extra TLC (tender loving care) when they come into the milking shed the first few times.

Cows are subject to many pressures around calving. Their teats have not been cleaned, disinfected or looked after in any way for the 6 to 8 weeks spent in the dry paddock. When they come into the shed, their udders are probably dirty from the calving pad or paddock. As well, their teats will be slightly swollen with fresh milk and tender to touch.

Any actions that reduce the number of bacteria near the teat end at milking and improve teat health will minimise the risk of new mastitis infections occurring. Having a special routine for fresh cows can help to make this happen. This routine should include:

• Drafting fresh cows and milking them first;

• Preparing their teats before every milking for the first 8 milkings; and

• Checking foremilk from each quarter for at least the first 8 milkings.

The main advantage of handling fresh cows as a separate mob is that they can be milked before the main herd when the equipment is at its cleanest. A separate mob also makes it possible to take a bit of extra time when bringing the cows into the shed, so they become familiar with the routine and are calm and ready to let-down milk by the time the cups go on. This practice especially benefits young cows coming into the shed for the first time, when both the facilities and milking routine are unfamiliar.

Washing and drying teats before the first few milkings helps to ease cows back into the milking routine. More importantly, it ensures that teat skin is clean at this time, when the udder is highly vulnerable to infection.

Foremilk stripping all quarters of all cows in the colostrum mob is highly recommended by Countdown Downunder because it helps detect and treat early cases of clinical mastitis. A cow has clinical mastitis if the foremilk has clots, wateriness or discolouration that persists for 3 or more squirts.

To give fresh cows that extra attention they need, why not allocate extra staff time in the milking shed for the first few milkings?

Image and caption

Checking the foremilk of a freshly calved cow (Click on the photo for higher quality copy)

Countdown Downunder Farm Guideline or Technote
Farm Guideline 4.2, 13.1

Keywords
freshly calved cows, milking routine, foremilk stripping

Word length
423