Mastitis is a problem in your herd if you have more than 2 clinical cases per 100 cows per month during mid-lactation.

Whether or not you are spreading mastitis from cow to cow at milking depends on what is happening in the shed. Any factors that contribute to teat damage or increase the number of bacteria at the teat end increase the risk of mastitis spread.

Making sure that liners are replaced regularly is an important component of keeping teats healthy and reducing the number of bacteria at the teat end. Even new liners have microscopic cracks that can hold bacteria, and these cracks and splits increase in size and number as the liners are used.

Liners also need to retain their elasticity to provide effective massaging of the teat during milking. Failure of this massaging action, due to inadequate pulsation or because liners are in poor condition, will damage teat ends.

There are several different points where you can check your milking system to ensure it is not damaging teat health. For example:

• Check that cows are not nervous or uncomfortable at any time during milking – from cups on to cups off.

• Check teats when taking the cups off for discolouration, swelling, hardness, or cracks and sores.

More detail of these checks is given in the Countdown Farm Guidelines for Mastitis Control, guideline 6.

Other management techniques you can use to reduce spread of bacteria from cow to cow during milking include:

• Routine teat disinfection of all cows at the end of each milking to reduce the number of bacteria at the teat end.

• Milking infected cows after the rest of the herd.

Image and caption
Photo #2 on FG page 42 “When taking the cups off check if the teats are red, hard or sore”

Countdown Downunder Farm Guideline or Technote
Farm Guideline 6.1

Keywords
milking systems, teat end health, liners, pulsation

Word length
278