Pressbarrow Farm is an arable and dairy farm supplying milk to Tesco Dairies, it has 250 head of cattle and milks 90 cattle twice per day. Historically, the farm has suffered from cross contamination of digital dermatitis with up to 28% of the herd being infected (see data graphs). In addition, there were high levels of mastitis in the herd. In early 2020, these conditions resulted in regular cell counts over 200 and occasionally over the 300 mark which was unacceptable. The farm had large veterinary bills with a reduced income because of poor quality milk production.
In addition, in young calves there were cases of scour, pneumonia and crypto resulting in prolonged calf sickness and poor body mass growth. In Feb 2020, I was introduced to Selective Micro and its development of innovative cleaning products for animal health care and milk collection and storage systems. After discussions with the Pressbarrow Farm vet, who reviewed all the technical data on all the Selective Micro products, we commenced product trials under his supervision.
Mastitis
In January 2020, 26 cattle (15%) were suffering with mastitis and the farm was using 4 boxes of antibiotics monthly but this still did not reduce the rates of infection and the cell count peaked at 321. Using Selective Micro’s Selectrocide product as a pre-wash of the teat before milking cleared the mastitis and reduced the cell count so that by January 2021 we had ZERO cases of mastitis in the herd. We occasionally see 1 or 2 cows showing early signs of mastitis and instantly wash the teats and udder which has resulted in us now controlling our cases effectively. In March, we had one case of mastitis due to a wet bedding issue which has been resolved.
Since using Udder Shield, cell counts have dropped significantly and have remained low which has meant less use of mastitis tubes and subsequently less drying out tubes due to lower cell count which means only teat sealant has been required (150scc or below). It has been noted that cows which have been in a drying off period after using Udder Shield have a much lower cell count on returning to milking which continues after subsequent calvings.
Digital Dermatitis
At the end of 2019 the farm had 28% of cows suffering with recurring digital dermatitis, this is a common problem in many dairy farms as the cows even after using Formulin footbaths spend a great deal of time standing in excrement which provides the perfect breeding ground for the infection. We started using Selectrocide as cleaning products to the cows hoofs during checks and trimming.
The two products were applied to all the infected cows in the herd, this was carried out using hand held trigger sprays during milking and when pulling a cow into the crush for checking. Cows who were lame as a result of infection were back in the fields within a couple of days and cases of digital dermatitis dropped significantly. The farm keeps a stock of both Digiclean and Digibarrier to use if there are any signs of reinfection. Since using these products, the farm has had 3 visits from the hoof trimmer and he has reported on each occasion that the levels of digital dermatitis have now dropped by 80%.