Learn the vital facts about dry cow management

Drying off is a key time for mastitis control. Decisions made at this time can influence the herd’s performance for the next six to 12 months.

Richard Wells, a Leicestershire farm manager, says: “Dry cow management is a vital part of our herd health plan and we discuss it regularly with our vet. At drying-off, each cow is looked at on an individual basis, looking at their milk history using the last three months of milk recording to select whether she has sealant only or antibiotics and sealant.”

Not only is drying-off a significant investment in terms of money and effort for farmers, it is usually the single biggest opportunity to make a difference to an individual cow’s infection status as well as the overall herd’s mastitis status.

The factsheets and films provide information and recommendations for farmers on drying-off, along with protocol on clean infusion technique at dry-off. Filmed on a working farm and presented in a practical way to help farmers implement best practice, the films and associated factsheets will help to develop skills on farm for long term mastitis control. The resources cover:

• decision making at dry-off,

• drying-off,

• clean infusion technique,

• monitoring the dry period performance as well as

• consideration on nutrition, housing and calving management.

Dr James Breen, vet and associate professor of cattle health and production at the University of Nottingham says: “The importance of taking a structured approach to the administration of dry cow therapy cannot be overstated in terms of reducing the risk of new infection around drying-off. It is vitally important to clean the teats of cows prior to drying-off with a pre-milking teat disinfectant and cotton wool soaked in surgical spirit – whether you are using teat sealant alone or antibiotic dry cow therapy in combination with teat sealant.

"For many British dairy herds, a focus on reducing environmental infection during the dry period will bring great benefit in terms of reducing clinical mastitis and new cell count infection in the early part of the next lactation. Irrespective of dry cow therapy chosen, we know cows are susceptible to new infection in the early and late parts of the dry period, and around the time of calving.

"A focus on environment management, particularly the availability of space if housed or frequent rotation if at grass, is hugely important in terms of how likely we are to calve down an uninfected cow at calving.”

The new factsheets and films are available to view and download from dairy.ahdb.org.uk/dry-cow-management. This project is part of the AHDB Dairy Research Partnership on the ‘Health, Welfare and Nutrition of Dairy Cattle’ led by the University of Nottingham.

Dr Jenny Gibbons is an AHDB Senior Scientist