Cow comfort and good facility hygiene go a long way in reducing environmental mastitis. Perfecting those steps in the milking parlor can help mitigate the risk of introducing environmental mastitis at milking. And it can reduce the spread of contagious mastitis.

• Wearing gloves is an easy way to mitigate the risk of moving contaminants and bacteria on the milker’s hand from animal to animal. Remain mindful that the parlor is a risky environment for passing along infections.

• The application of a pre-dip is a good first step in ensuring the udder is sterile before milking. It sanitizes the exterior of each teat and kills most bacteria. Fore-stripping is important to stimulate milk let-down and allow milkers to check for clinical signs of mastitis. It’s crucial to use a clean towel to dry teats thoroughly and remove any lingering debris and-or pre-dip before milking. Excess water is the enemy in the parlor; it spreads bacteria and ultimately contaminates the teat end.

• Before each milking shift begins ensure the vacuum is set correctly. Avoid squawking units that could let outside air into the milking system. That unwanted air is pulled into a back-end system and forces the milk to flow in the wrong direction. If milk containing pathogens is pushed back into the teat canal, an uninfected udder could be exposed to those pathogens through the milking equipment.

• After milking is complete apply a post-dip sanitizer. It takes between 15 and 30 minutes for a teat end to seal completely. A sanitizing agent can protect the teat end and canal during that interim period after milking.

Even with the best prevention management mastitis infections will still happen. Short-duration therapy and on-farm culturing can help sick cows return to the milking herd as soon as possible. About 60 percent of the time a mastitis case typically resolves without treatment. With the help of a veterinarian, on-farm culturing will differentiate those mastitis cases that will benefit from antibiotics. That prevents wasting time and assets for a cow that could clear the infection independently. When treatment is necessary the two- or three-day treatment regimen of short-duration therapy will effectively eliminate the mastitis infection in less time than the common five-day treatment regimen.

Dry-off is another opportunity to manage mastitis. One of the ways to prevent new infections is by using tools like internal teat sealants, allowing a seal of the teat canal so no pathogen can enter. That way when she freshens the cow will hopefully be mastitis-free and ready to regularly visit the parlor.

Keeping cows ready for game day and healthy during their off-season is important. With consistent evaluation of parlor protocols and guidance from a veterinarian it’s easy to build the ultimate defense against mastitis.

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