In one month's time, most farmers will be looking at housing cows. Grass covers will have run down, land will be wet and the shed will be the most attractive place for cows.

With housing brings problems, particularly mastitis and somatic cell count (SCC). A combination of lower yields and a much increased risk of infection will lead to increases in SCC.

Forewarned is forearmed

As the saying goes; forewarned is forearmed. Use the next few weeks to identify the likely culprits and do something about it.

Unless you milk record, you won’t know who the high SCC cows are. For most spring-calving herds, the final recording should take place in the month of October.

This recording will also be important for identifying which cows can get selective dry cow therapy, but it will also help identify the likely culprits when SCC rises after cows are housed.

Dry period

Cows that have a high SCC now should be considered for a longer dry period to give the udder time to repair and heal.

After a weekend of very heavy rain across most of the country, many herds have had to be housed for short periods.

As mentioned, the risk of infection rises dramatically when cows are housed. The main risk comes from the fact that cows are lying in an un-hygienic environment when compared with lying on grass in a field.

This risk can be reduced by keeping passages clean and spreading disinfectants such as lime on cubicle beds.

The next risk stems from the fact that the environment is different; there will be more stress on the animals and immunity might be suppressed compared with normal.

Avoiding this entirely is probably impossible, but it can be helped by making sure cows have enough access to good-quality feed and water.

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