Cattle self assessment: January–February 2020

At a Red Tractor herd health meeting for an autumn calving herd towards the end of the season in 2019 the control of somatic cell count (SCC) and clinical mastitis is reviewed, alongside herd antimicrobial use (AMU). The herd manager is concerned about an increase in the number of cows treated for clinical mastitis both prior to and during the winter housing period. The herd is 290 Holstein-Friesian cows averaging 9000 litres, calving between late July and early January, and milked twice daily through a 20/40 swing over herringbone parlour with a full pre-milking teat preparation routine, including fore-stripping. Both pre-milking teat disinfection (Hexaklene R, Agroserve; wiping with machine washable reusable towel cloths, Figure 1) and post-milking teat disinfection (Wynnsan All Seasons Chlorhexidine RTU teat dip, Wynnstay Agriculture; applied via a handheld pressure sprayer) are practised.

Lactating cow groups are housed in cubicles on mattresses bedded with a shredded paper product. Cows are dried off from May using a selective approach to antibiotic dry cow therapy based on an average SCC over the whole lactation of greater or less than 200 000 cells/ml. Cows above this threshold receive in-tramammary antibiotic (Ubro Red Dry Cow Intramammary Suspension, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd) and internal teat sealant (Orbeseal Dry Cow Intramammary Suspension, Zoetis UK Limited). Cows below this threshold receive internal teat sealant alone. The dry cows are kept in one 6-acre paddock for approximately 2 months to allow for buffer feeding prior to calving. Close to calving cows are then moved to a large loose yard that is bedded with straw three times a week and completely cleaned out every 6 weeks. After calving cows remain with the calf in the loose yard for 24 hours before being moved to the cubicle yard containing the high yielding cows.