PREVENTION OF MASTITIS IN DAIRY FARM BY GOOD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Compiled & Edited by-DR RAJESH KUMAR SINGH ,JAMSHEDPUR,JHARKHAND, INDIA, 9431309542,rajeshsinghvet@gmail.com
Mastitis is a complicated and costly problem for the dairy farmer. No simple solutions are available for its prevention. Mastitis is still one of the most devastating diseases on dairy farms. It causes massive economic losses, even on farms with a low incidence of clinical mastitis. I think that prevention is a much better way to manage mastitis than is trying to treat and eradicate the disease. Preventative practices that I suggest producers incorporate into their mastitis management programs include the following:
1.Clean udders/teats before milking.
2.Use proven effective pre and post milking teat dips.
3.Minimize the use of water to wash udders and teats.
4.Use paper towels or reusable cloth towels to clean and dry teats.
5.Fore-strip milk from each quarter.
6.Use milking equipment properly
7.Have milking system checked/serviced regularly.
8.Provide comfortable, properly designed and bedded free stalls
9.Keep bedded-pack lounging areas clean and dry
10.Keep facilities clean and dry.
11.Infuse all quarters of all cows at dry-off time
12.Culture bulk tank milk samples.
13.Check udders of cows and heifers while pregnant.
14.Consider using a teat sealant on dry cows.
15.Supplement selenium & vitamin E to all cows.
16.Provide adequate energy intake at calving time.
17.Keep cows cool during hot weather.
18.Use fly control practices.
19.Check udder health status of cows and heifers before purchasing them
20.Use proper udder infusion techniques.
21.Handle clinical mastitis cows separately.
22.Regulate day length during the dry period
23.Breed mastitis immunity into your cows.
24.House milk-fed calves in separate pens.
25.Give more attention to preventing mastitis in heifers.
Prevention of Mastitis by Good Milking Procedures ————
- Provide cows with a clean, stress-free environment
• Milking time should be a consistent routine.
• The cow should not be frightened or excited before milking because such stress results in secretion of epinephrine in blood stream which interferes with normal milk let down.
• Udders should be clipped or singed as necessary to remove long hair and reduce amount of dirt, manure and bedding that may contaminate milk.
• Hands of person milking the cows be washed and dried before milking. Gloves are also beneficial. Hands/gloves be rinsed in disinfectant solution before and after milking each cow in a herd.
2. Check the foremilk and udder for mastitis
• Strip cups and plates should be cleaned and sanitized after each milking to prevent the spread of mastitis organisms.
• Stripping of milk directly onto the floor, followed by immediate hosing of the floor surface can be done and incorporation of black tiles into the floor of parlor facilitates this procedure.
• Milk should never be stripped directly into the milker’s hand because this procedure spreads microorganisms from teat to teat and cow to cow via contaminated hands.
3. Wash teats and the Ventral surface of the udder with a warm sanitizing solution
• Correct washing and massaging of teats and udder sends a signal to pituitary gland that secretes oxytocin that causes milk let down.
• In stanchion barns a sanitizing solution should be used in bucket with individual cloth or paper towel to wash the teats.
• Use of a common cloth or sponge should not be permitted because these become grossly contaminated and may cause mastitis spread.
In large dairy herds, milking facilities may be equipped with sprinkler pens where 80 to 120 cows are group washed. After providing them sufficient drip-drying time before cows enter the milking parlor their teats and udders be completely dried.
4. Use a pre-milking Teat Dip
Pre-milking teat dip reduces infections with environmental microorganism by about 50%. Recommended pre-dipping procedures are as follows: clean teats, forestrip predip teats and allow recommended contact time (usually 20-30 seconds), dry teats with an individual paper towel to remove germicide residues and attach milking units.
Pre-dipping is sometimes done without prior washing of the dirty teats, and germicide is often placed on top of manure and dirt present on teat skin. This practice is not likely to reduce incidence of mastitis and somatic cell count, and will probably reduce milk quality. Manure and dirt must be removed to get full benefits of predipping.
5. Dry teats thoroughly
The milking of wet teats also promotes squawking of the teat cup liners, which may result in teat end impact.
6. Attach teat-cups within 1 minute
Attachment of teat cups should be done carefully to prevent the entrance of excessive air into the milking system. Maximum internal udder pressure is reached approx. 1 minute after udder preparation is begun and lasts for about 5 min. Since the majority of cows will milk out in 4 to 6 min, the consistent attachment of teat cups 1 minute after the beginning of stimulation makes maximum use of milk let-down hormone oxytocin.
7. Adjust milking units as necessary
• Teat cups that are seated excessively high on teats cause irritation to the lining of the teat and may contribute to the development of mastitis. Improperly aligned milking units may also block milk flow, increase strippings and slip more often.
• It is important that slipping or squawking of teat cups be minimized because such occurrences probably contribute to more machine-induced infections than any other single factor.
• If liner slips occur at the same time as the liner opens, tiny droplets of milk may be propelled against the end of the teat at very high velocity. Such droplets may contain mastitis-causing microorganisms and may penetrate the teat canal. Since milk flow slows near the end of milking the chances of the microorganisms being flushed out of the teat are reduced and an infection of the quarter may result.
8. Shut off vacuum before removing teat cups
The goal should be to remove teat cups just as the last quarter milks out, but vacuum should always be shut off before teat cups are removed. An increased risk of infection exists when teat cups are removed while under vacuum.
Dip teats with a safe and effective teat dip:
Teat dips in addition to killing all microorganisms on teats reduce teat canal colonization and help to heal teat cup lesions. The list of teat-dip germicides includes iodophores, chlorohexidines, linear dodecyle benzene sulfonic acid (LDBSA), sodium hypochlorite, sodium chlorite/lactic or mandelic acid, hypochlorous acid, quaternary ammonium and antimicrobial proteins and fatty acids.
Only products shown by research to be safe and effective should be used. This involves using a product registered with the FDA or concerned regulatory authorities.
Problems related to teat dips: ———–
Some teat dip germicides may cause harmful effects on teat skin and cause chapping. The irritation might be due to low or high pH or high titratable acidity or alkalinity or a formulation. Because of the potential for irradiation, skin-conditioning agents often are added to teat-dope formulations. Glycerin is an example of humectants, a substance that promotes the retention of moisture. Emollients, substances that soften and smooth the skin also are found in dips; linolin is a popular choice and coats the skin and reduces evaporative water loss. The only difficulty is that germicidal activity of teat dips may be reduced if concentrations of humectants and emollients become too high above 10 or 12% of the total dip.
Normal teat skin is coated with bacteria static acids that retard the bacterial growth. When exposed to cold, wet and windy conditions, teat skin may become chapped and irritated. Also protective surface coating may be removed, allowing bacterial growth on teat skin.
Mastitis spread/management
Basically, if equipment is operating according to the recommendations, and its capacity is not exceeded, the machine itself contributes little to the mastitis problem. However, the milking system can influence the development of mastitis causing bacteria from one cow to the next. Improper use, such as failing to shut off vacuum when teat cups are removed, may injure the teat canal and increase susceptibility to infection. Irregular fluctuations in milking vacuum may cause tiny droplets of bacteria-laden milk to impact against the end of the teat, propelling mastitis-causing bacteria through the teat opening and into the udder. Therefore, it is important to dry teats before milking, position the milking unit properly on udder, select appropriate liners, avoid excessive machine stripping, and minimize sudden air losses when machines are removed. Some experts claim that changing liners every 1000 to 1200 milking or every 60 days, whichever comes first will reduce risk of new infection.
Economic Importance
The losses caused to the dairy industry by this disease are enormous. Almost every herd suffers intermittent losses from good cows going ‘light’ or going blind in various quarters. The aggregate loss to the industry is one of the major deductions from economic production. It is probable that in some herds more than 15% of cows are rejected each year because of mastitis. Some cases of mastitis are caused by “streptococci” of human origin the type that produce septic sore throat and scarlet fever. These are a danger to the consumers of milk but are fortunately rare.
The National Mastitis council (USA) shows that, when bulk tank SCC is 200,000, about 6% of quarters in the herd could be expected to be infected. At 500,000 SCC 16% of quarters are likely infected with a 6% reduction in milk production.
Thus, mastitis causes heavy losses in terms of costs of rearing cattle and heavy losses follow from early disposal before they have reached their maximal reduction.
Management And Mastitis Spread:———-
Decreasing Exposure to Pathogen between Milking
The microorganisms are abundant in the surroundings in which cows live, including manure, soil, bedding, feedstuffs, water and plant material. Where poor hygiene exists, housed cows are at greater risk of infection with environmental microorganisms than cows on grassy pasture. However, where good hygiene practices exist, housed cows may be at less risk than cows on pasture that have access to ponds, mud holes, or wet lots. The prevalence of clinical cases increases with confinement; especially during winter months.
Environmental conditions that can increase exposure to these microorganisms include overcrowding, poor ventilation, inadequate manure removal, poorly maintained free stalls, access to farm ponds, dirty calving areas, and general lack of farm cleanliness and sanitation. Maximum air movement through housing, feeding and calving facilities should be provided to reduce the number of these microorganisms; especially airflow over bedding materials, floors, and walkways. Moisture of any kind such as rain, humidity, urine, drinking water and even udder wash favor the growth of environmental microorganisms.
Recommended Bedding Materials: ———
Low-moisture inorganic materials such as limestone, sand and clay are preferable to finely chopped organic materials because they contain few nutrients for bacteria to utilize and harbor and are therefore associated with lower numbers of microorganisms. Of these, washed sand is often recommended because of greater ease in handling and because it is less likely to harden in stalls if the material becomes wet.
The key to successful use of any of the materials is daily replacement of wet and soiled bedding and regardless of the material used, this practice has been shown to reduce bacteria counts. Composting solid wastes for bedding material has been attempted, but it contains excessive numbers of coliform bacteria once it is placed into free stalls. Alternative bedding that has been evaluated is recycling newspaper, but little advantage was gained in decreasing bacterial counts which are similar to those in chopped straw. However, it may be an economical alternative.
Reference-On Request
