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DRY COW THERAPY
WINTER 2015 ISSUE
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
10
‘Then there are the human factors; the
discipline in the parlour, attention to detail,
the level of hygiene. And it’s essential that
the person administering the teat sealant has
been trained on the correct technique – it’s
not the same as a dry cow tube.’
Julian agrees: ‘When using teat sealant
alone, the tubing technique needs to be
meticulously hygienic, otherwise there is a
risk of serious, sometimes fatal mastitis cases
in the days following drying off.
‘With appropriate training and procedures
however, the risks can be minimised. We
always advise starting with a just few
‘sealant only’ cows until staff become
confident in the sterility of infusion!’
SDCT – tips for success
Two Friars Moor clients that have successfully
taken a selective approach with dry cow
therapy are Stuart Rogers of Longmoor Farm,
near Gillingham, and Joe Spicer of
Gomershay Farm near Stalbridge. They
have slightly different selection criteria
and techniques.
Stuart has been carrying out SDCT for three
years now; there has been no increase in
fresh cow mastitis cases or cell counts in that
time. The majority of cows have SCCs less
than 100,000 cells/ml prior to drying off.
Only 30% of the herd receives an antibiotic
at drying off and this has reduced dry
cow antibiotic tube use by 2,000 over
the three years!
Stuart explains: ‘You need good information
to make an informed decision about which
cows get just the teat sealant. So it can
only be done by farms which have monthly
milk recordings and rigorously record all
mastitis cases.’
The criteria for using a dry cow antibiotic (as
well as a teat sealant) are: if a cow has had
a cell count greater than 150,000 cells/ml,
and/or a case of mastitis in the last three
months of her lactation.
Stuart adds: ‘Good hygiene and staff
training are also really important. At the start
we had a case of gangrenous mastitis in
a cow which had only received the teat
sealant, so we now pay particular attention
to our infusion technique.
‘We have the same person, our herdsman
Steven Waters, doing the drying-off, and
he’s been properly trained up. Our 250-cow
herd calves all year round, and we dry
cows off on Mondays and Fridays. We
always give him plenty of notice so that he
can gather the relevant tubes and make sure
everything is clean. Copious amounts of
cotton wool and surgical spirit are used to
get the teats really clean prior to inserting
any sealant.’
Joe Spicer has also been successfully
practising SDCT for three years, ever since
he moved his 240-cow herd over to an
autumn block-calving system. Cell counts are
consistently in the 100,000-150,000
cells/ml range and only 6% of cows have
calved in with cell counts over 200,000 in
the past calving seasons.
His criteria for using a dry cow antibiotic
(plus teat sealant) are made on a quarter by
quarter basis. A dry cow antibiotic is given if
any of these occur: a case of mastitis during
lactation, a positive California Mastitis Test
(CMT) in the week prior to drying off, or the
cow’s SCC has been above 150,000
cells/ml for the last three recordings.
Joe explains: ‘Cows are dried off weekly in
batches of up to 20 animals. Individuals for
drying off are tail taped and separated from
the herd during morning milking and kept in
sand cubicles on a straw/hay diet. In the
afternoon milking, they are milked first and
whilst still in the parlour, each cow is dried
off with the appropriate treatment.’
Strict attention is paid to hygiene and
infusion technique. Again, cotton wool
soaked in surgical spirit is used to clean and
sterilise the teats. ‘This is much quicker and
more effective than using the packets of
wipes that come with the tubes,’ says Joe.
‘Drying off batches of cows at the start of
milking has proved very successful. We can
prepare the treatments that each cow
requires, everything is clean and importantly
all staff are fully focussed on the task in
hand, rather than tired at the end of a long
milking. In addition, once the cows have
been treated, they can go directly to a clean
environment, away from the milkers.’
Want to try SDCT?
Julian explains: ‘It’s likely that SDCT will
become the ‘norm’ rather than the exception
in the years ahead. It has been practised in
some other countries for many years and there
will be increasing pressure from milk buyers to
reduce the use of antibiotics at drying off.
‘Although selective DCT should be suited to
most herds with good control of mastitis, it is
not suited to all. So it’s important to speak to
your vet first before changing your dry cow
routine.’
He adds: ‘Choosing which cows to selectively
treat is relatively straightforward. But we can’t
stress enough – the sterility of infusion is critical
for success.’
Take the pledge!
The European Antibiotic Awareness Day
(EAAD) ran on 18th November; each year
across Europe, the EAAD is marked by
national campaigns on the prudent use of
antibiotics in both human and veterinary
health. In support of this, members of the
public, vets and farmers are encouraged
to become an Antibiotic Guardian – by
choosing a pledge to undertake a simple
action that can help prevent the development
and spread of antibiotic resistance. For more
information and to sign the pledge visit
http://antibioticguardian.com/.Herdsman Steven Waters is responsible for drying
off
Left - right, Helen Rogers, Stuart Rogers, Julian Allen
Stuart Rogers using milk records
Joe Spicer