Minimise mastitis and reduce involuntary culling.

1. IMPROVE YOUR COWS’ LIFE TIME PRODUCTIVITY
Mastitis is ranked second after
infertility as a main reason for
culling cows. 20–50% of dairy
cows are treated for infection in
Europe and the USA
“Mastitis greatly affects
productivity and is the
largest health cost on
most farms”
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2. MASTITIS IS NOT ALWAYS VISIBLE
Acute (visible) mastitis can best be described as the tip of the iceberg.
The red cow may be the one that’s been detected as a mastitis cow,
but underneath are several subclinically infected cows
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3. Clinical
Mastitis
Sub-clinical
Mastitis
VISIBLE SIGNS:
Mild Mastitis:
Cloggy milk
Moderate Mastitis:
Swollen udder
Severe Mastitis:
Loss of apetite/fever
NO VISIBLE SIGNS:
Milk looks OK
Udder looks OK
Cow behaves normally
But the cow might still be
infected which affects
milk quality
There are excellent tools to
pinpoint cases of mastitis
80%
of mastitis cases
can be detected
before they are
visible
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4. HOW TO PREVENT MASTITIS
Carry out an annual
inspection and servicing
of milking equipment
“The key to prevention is to reduce
the number of bacteria to which my
teat ends are exposed”
Maintain good
hygiene during
milking
Disinfect all
teats after
every milking
Keep
equipment
clean and
functional
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5. Environments
hould be as
clean and dry
as possible
Exchange
bedding
material
every 48h
Don’t
overstock
the barn
Turn bedding material several
times a day to keep it dry
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6. Provide
nutritious and
healthy feed
Treat new
and severe
clinical cases
of mastitis
promptly and
record data
Choose
appropriate
cases for
treatment
About 60% of all new infections occur
in the dry period, either in the first 21
days after the end of lactation or
around calving
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7. Separate
healthy cows
from infected
ones
Eventually cull
infected cows
when you have
replacement
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8. RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS IS A PROBLEM
The solution is not to increase the level of treatment but rather reduce
the need for antibiotics by closely monitoring cell count
Antibiotic
treatment of
mastitis is very
costly and
creates a lot of
waste milk
Increase efforts
to identify the
chronic cases of
mastitis
This will save time and
money and will ensure
better milk quality
Optimise use of antibiotics.
Carefully select your
treatment cases
“I don’t want to be fed
with antibiotics if I don’t
need them”
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9. © DeLaval 2014 Sources: www.delaval.com/HappyCows