We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
Mastitis can spell disaster for dairy farmers. This potentially fatal mammary gland infection is the most common disease in dairy cattle in the U.S. and worldwide. But a treatment – dry cow therapy – has proven to be effective.
I grew up not too far from Six Flags Great America. The American Eagle is the tallest and fastest racing wooden roller coaster in the world. Its first drop gives me the feeling most dairy farmers must have felt this spring, not exhilarating, but gut-wrenching. Mandates to dump milk and cut production combined with plummeting milk prices and uncertainty as far as the eye could see were enough to give anyone that nauseous feeling.
Dairy cows are most susceptible to new intramammary infections (IMIs) during the dry period. Cows are at greatest risk two to three weeks after dry-off and two to three weeks prior to calving.
Control and even eradication of bovine leukosis, caused by bovine leukemia virus (BLV), is possible in U.S. dairy herds dedicated to prioritizing diagnostic testing, acting on results and employing regular management practices that reduce the risk of transmission.
Most dairy cows experience a period of energy deficit following calving due to increased energy demands of lactation coupled with decreases in nutrient intake. Inability to adapt to this period results in metabolic disease such as ketosis.
When dairy cows transition from late gestation to early lactation, they often enter a state of energy deficit as increased energy demands are not met by the level of intake.
Mastitis is the most common reason for antimicrobial use for cows on U.S. dairy farms – about 80% of all antimicrobial use was for treatment or prevention of mastitis, which included dry cow therapy.
Fresh cows are the most important, and most vulnerable, group of cows in the barn. Between post-calving stress and the metabolic demands of lactation, the immune system of a cow is suppressed during the transition period, leaving her susceptible to a variety of diseases – like mastitis and metritis – that can impact your herd’s milk production and overall profitability.
We all know infectious diseases exist on dairies. They can present as an outbreak, be endemic in the herd or potentially both, and some cattle diseases may even pose a health risk to farm employees.
RSS
