Displaying items by tag: mastitis

CRV is encouraging dairy farmers to carefully consider the bulls they select for mating this season to help them address ongoing herd health issues like mastitis and reduce the need for antibiotics.

Hawke's Bay dairy farmer Rose Galloway rejects any suggestion that mastitis in cows isn't contagious. A trained nurse, Galloway and her family milk 550 cows near Norsewood and says mastitis is caused by pathogens entering the cow's udder through the teat canal and can pass onto other cows. She explains:

Mastitis expert Steve Cranefield says as long as the basics of mastitis management are followed the risk of one cow spreading mastitis to another cow is quite low.

Mastitis expert Steve Cranefield is urging farmers to take more pride in lowering their herd’s somatic cell count.

Mastitis is the inflammation of the mammary gland.

First calvers are more prone to mastitis than older cows. According to DairyNZ, farmers must choose a strategy that best suits their herd, farm team, and budget.

Dairy farmer Enda Hawe’s focus on mastitis prevention and teat condition rather than blanket use of DCT during dry off is paying dividends.

A dairy farmer’s first and best defence against mastitis and teat-end damage comes down to one decision.

Most clinical mastitis occurs over calving, so if you’ve had a good spring, you probably feel like you’re in the clear. 

Dr Sean Daly, vet and technical adviser at MSD Animal Health, explains best-practice guidelines for treating cows with clinical mastitis.