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Good standards of hygiene in the parlour are
also imperative and important to get staff to
adhere to. Environmental infections may
become established during milking time by
using poorly cleansed kit. The only reservoir of
infection for environmental mastitis is in the
environment; this differs from contagious or ‘cow
associated’ mastitis where the major reservoir
of infection is inside the udder of infected cows
who are effectively acting as carriers.
At milking time, depending on the standard
of environmental hygiene achieved on a
farm, bacteria will be present to variable
degrees on the teat skin as the cows
come into the parlour to be milked. These
organisms may invade the udder during
milking, particularly when milk flow away
from the udder is inefficient, therefore a
clearly defined cleansing and hygiene
procedure both for the cow and milking
equipment are essential in keeping this
costly condition at bay to avoid:
l
Reduced yield during acute infection
l
Treatment costs
l
Milk withdrawal
l
Permanently reduced yield in chronically
affected cows
l
Sick/dead cows
l
Forced culls
Whilst many of the principles of successful
milking routines seem basic, a change in staff
or occurrence in mastitis problems can
reduce productivity and welfare significantly.
FarmSkills offers a range of milking routine
and environmental mastitis training workshops
which can be attended by individual staff
members, or held on farm to train your
entire team, focussing on specific issues in
your routine.
F A R M S K I L L S
AUTUMN 2014 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
20
l
Define and detect mastitis.
l
Implement suitable recording systems.
l
Outline the key areas of control.
l
Name the principal environmental
mastitis pathogens.
l
Describe the impact of environmental
conditions on mastitis rates.
l
Calculate the costs associated with
mastitis including welfare.
l
Understand the balance between
cow defences and the challenge from
most common mastitis pathogens.
Mastitis and cell count control
Environmental mastitis
l
Recognise the importance of milking on
dairy enterprise economics.
l
Adopt best practice for controlling
mastitis and somatic cell counts.
l
Understand the principles of milking
machine mechanics and milking
cow physiology.
l
Adopt best practice for milking routine
and milking machine maintenance
and know what to do in case of
machine dysfunction.
Milking routines
Our workshops cover:
FarmSkills workshops are practical, vet led and held on farm so you and your staff are
equipped with the skills and knowledge to implement your learning back on farm. All our
workshops are listed on our website www.farmskills.co.uk and cover a range of dairy, beef,
sheep, pig and poultry topics. For further information on what we offer and how we can
help contact the team on 01765 608489.
FarmSkills Farmer Portal
- log on today!
The FarmSkills Farmer Portal is an
innovative and interactive online
tool allowing farmers to log their
FarmSkills training and development.
It is now fully up and running and
enables farmers to download their
certificates and view recommended
workshops taking place in their area.
As well as acting as a useful online
training tool, the Portal will also link in with
wider national XLVets campaigns, including
the Make Your Farm Your Fortress and BVD
initiatives, giving farmers further information
on what the issues are and how they can
get involved on a local and national level.
Accessing the Farmer Portal is easy,
simply go to
www.farmskills.co.uk/portal
to log in and start using today. If you
have previously attended some FarmSkills
training your record and certificate
library will be ready and waiting for
you and if you haven’t, the system will
recommend workshops close to you to
get you started.