Controlling your somatic cell count (SCC) is not always easy during the early lactation of your winter milking herds, particularly when you are milking cows off cubicles.
When cows are calving down and you are focusing on getting the spring calvers dried off, a spike in SCC can go unnoticed and may be left on the long finger.
However, any spike in SCC needs to be identified as soon as possible, as any increase in SCC above 100,000 cells/ml is associated with a reduction in animal performance and will have significant impact on your milk cheque.
When cows are being milked from sheds during winter months, the risk of SCC issues is going to be a lot higher due to environmental pressures.
As there are still autumn calving cows calving down at the moment and there are number of cows in their transition period, the focus should be on reducing a SCC spike prior to calving and post-calving.
Controlling SCC
A spike in SCC may happen for a number of reasons, including a poor milking routine, poor parlour maintenance, poor hygiene standards or, it could potentially be down to the genetic make-up of the cows.
Cows that are prone to high SCC should be slowly culled out out of the herd and should not be used for breeding replacements.
We are getting into the winter milking herd’s peak lactation in the coming weeks which means it is essential to keep SCC down, and a milk recording should be done to identify good performing cows to breed replacements from.
By carrying out an early lactation milk recording, you can identify the cows causing issues on the farm and identify the cows that are worth breeding off.
The protocol at milking is always key to minimising SCC and mastitis, but, this is particularly important during the early post-calving period, when risk is at its peak.
The following protocol should be taken for the freshly calved cow:
- Milk separately from main herd;
- Thoroughly wash and disinfect/change gloves before and after handling the cows;
- A pre-spray of disinfection is advisable;
- Inspect foremilk;
- A California milk test (CMT) on the freshly-calved cows at the last milking before joining the main herd.
A CMT is a useful protocol to use on your freshly calved cows, as it allows for early identification of mastitis infection and will reduce the likelihood of infection spreading to other cows in the herd.
Excellent parlour management is also crucial, as making sure cows are clean when being milked and using the correct post milking teat disinfection, ensuring full coverage of the teat is essential in minimising infection and a spike in SCC.
Any cows that have clinical or subclinical mastitis need to be separated from the herd as soon as possible
Keeping the bacteria pressure low in the cubicle shed is the best way of preventing mastitis cases and SCC issues and lime should be spread twice daily and scrapers run on a regular basic to keep the passageways clean.
