Mastitis incidence in low cell count herds
Berry, E.A.
Veterinary Record 135(20): 479-480
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-4900 PMID: 7871673 Document Number: 431656
Eleven of 35 herds in England and Wales which had a mean bulk milk cell count of <70 000 cells/ml were selected and visited in February 1992 to investigate the mastitis control measures and incidence of clinical mastitis. 10 herds were milked in parlours, 9 had regular milking machine tests and all herds used dry cow therapy. All herds had prompt detection methods for mastitis, treated clinical cases and employed teat disinfection after milking. All farmers would cull any cow with chronic or recurrent mastitis. Great attention to housing and management standards was seen on all the farms and it is suggested that this may have been due to the small herd size (28-103 cows/herd, average 45 cows/herd) and the fact that in most herds cows were owned and milked by the same person. These findings may have been a factor in the low clinical incidence of mastitis (7-21 cases/100 cows/year) in the herds where no cows had been lost due to mastitis.