Milk quality

A family-owned, all year-round calving herd of 130 British Friesian cows averaging 6000 litres on a 305-day adjusted lactation seeks advice from the practice regarding their milk quality and Bactoscan, which is ‘always a problem’, but had worsened considerably through the early months of 2020 (Figure 1). The reported clinical mastitis rate is also high at 50 cases per 100 cows/year and herd average somatic cell count (SCC) is increased, with the 12-month rolling average at 218 000 cells/ml.

Lactating and dry cows are pastured in the summer and housed in winter; lactating cows are managed as two groups for winter housing, with a smaller group loose housed on a straw yard, but the majority housed in cubicles bedded with chopped straw (Figure 2). The cubicle housed group have access to a large central ‘loafing’ area, which allows for around 3 m² of cow ‘living space’ (Thompson et al, 2020). The herd are milked twice daily through a herringbone parlour with a full premilking teat preparation routine. At drying-off, all cows receive an internal teat sealant, with infected cows (>200 000 cells/ml in any of the last three milk recordings) also receiving antibiotic dry cow therapy (Orbenin Extra Dry Cow 600 mg Intramammary Suspension, Zoetis UK Ltd).