Heifer mastitis
Your heifers are the future of your herd and you have invested considerable money and time before they enter the milking herd. The quickest way to devalue this investment is calving mastitis, which often leaves heifers with light quarters, and complicates their first few days in the shed. Heifers that develop mastitis are also more likely to be culled early.
Heifer mastitis traditionally occurs within seven days after calving when udders can be oedematous (swollen), and the teats open and dripping milk. These factors, along with others, mean the udder is much more susceptible to infection with environmental bacteria such as Streptococcus uberis.
The cost of this mastitis was measured in a recent New Zealand study which found each case of heifer mastitis costs $197 when calculated using a $5.50 payout1. This means that with a payout of $7.90, each heifer with mastitis will cost you well over $200! This cost takes into account the treatment cost, labour for treatment, milk discard and culling.
There are a few ways you can reduce the amount of mastitis in your heifers. Management tools such as twice-daily removal and milking of heifers from calving mob have been shown to reduce clinical mastitis by 45%. You can also reduce heifer mastitis by approximately 70% through using Teatseal 4-6 weeks pre-calving. With such a dramatic reduction in costly mastitis cases, the Teatseal treatment of all heifers quickly pays for itself. We have a cost-benefit calculator available to work out the return on investment on your farm.
Dealing with the issue before calving by treating heifers with Teatseal also means a smoother run during calving when time is always at a premium. It also gives your heifers the best chance to remain uninfected as they enter the milking herd, so they produce to capacity and have a lower chance of getting culled.
Teatsealing heifers pre-calving is a surprisingly achievable job, especially when performed by our experienced team. It bears no resemblance to the heifer in pain with mastitis being treated during milking. Farms that have already tried Teatsealing heifers are repeating the treatment year after year in their first calvers.
Our heifer Teatseal team will be starting to treat heifer mobs over the next few weeks. To investigate the cost benefit on your farm or ask any further questions, please contact one of Totally Vets dairy team.
- Compton C and McDougall S. Economics of mastitis in dairy heifers. Report for dairy NZ and SFF, June 2009.
