Page 26 - ACV Journal DECEMBER 2015

Scientific
Short term
• Address mud contamination occurring at the dairy exit
• Modify teat disinfectant product and mixing protocol
• Implement milk fever control strategy
Medium term
• Introduce new culling policy for cows non-responsive to
treatment
• Modify pre-milking routine to improve let down and
detection of clinical cases
• Prevent loitering on track following milking
Long term
• Introduce new treatment protocol for clinical cases
• Change liners more frequently (twice per season)
• Address other areas of the farm which may contribute to
udder contamination with mud
Each of the recommendations provided to the farmer was unpacked
and delivered as specifically as possible (particularly for track
upgrades) to maximize chances of implementation. This was done
by members of the investigatory team who had experience in each
area. For example, one of the field officers had conducted a great
deal of track upgrades and maintenance on his own dairy farm and
the other had experience with teat spray disinfection options and
liner changes in her dairy farming days. This left the two veterinarians
to focus on treatment protocols and animal health (milk fever). One
of the veterinarians tackled the issue of cows not moving away from
the dairy.
Figure 5.
Current season BMCC (2015) to date for case study farm graphed against 2014 results. The orange line indicates the premium threshold for the
factory supplied by this farm (250 000 cells/ml).
26 The Australian Cattle Veterinarian | volume 77 | December 2015
Implementation of changes and results
The herd was dried off following the investigation with blanket DCT (Cepravin
DC® and Teatseal®) at the end of May 2015. Five cows were culled for
having thee or more clinical cases during the season. During the dry period
the owner made many changes including addressing the mud at the exit of
the dairy by repairing spouting and building up the track surfaces closest to
the dairy. The owner also attended two Dairy Australia workshops, “Hassle
Free Calving” and “Putting Transition Cow Management Into Practice”, and
made some alterations to his transition cow management in an attempt
to reduce the incidence of milk fever. The owner opted to stay with the
existing teat spray product but has begun using cooled water from the hot
water service and mixing batches more frequently.The first herd test was
conducted three months after calving commenced and any cow which had
a high ICCC in this test and at multiple points in the previous lactation had
the affected quarter dried off or was culled if multiple quarters were affected.
Figure 5 shows the dramatically improved BMCC results for the current
season to date graphed against the BMCC for the same period last season.
There were no 10 day periods below the factory’s premium threshold last
season; however, all 10 day periods have been well below the factorys
premium threshold to date this season. In addition, at the time of writing
(November 2015), only four cases of clinical mastitis had been treated since
calving (4/110 cows) and the owner was feeling much less overwhelmed
by his high BMCC and high number of clinical cases of mastitis. Minor
changes were made to transition cow management. Anionic salts (MgCl2)
were added to the water trough during the transition period which reduced
the incidence of milk fever to approximately 25%. However, no accurate
calving dates were available and there remains scope for improvement in
the program with more active guidance from transition cow management
advisors. The farm BMCC results will continue to be monitored by the
factory field officers and a three monthly “check in” will be conducted by
the veterinarians in the team. Overall, the farm owner was very pleased with
the process of the investigation and the results it was able to achieve.
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