Which Dry Cow Should I Use?

“Which dry cow should I use this year?” This is a common and seemingly simple question we are asked a lot around this time of year. Unfortunately, the answer is surprisingly complex! Breaking this question down makes it a bit easier to work through.

Should I use TeatSeal?

This is a simple one. YES. All cows and heifers should be treated with TeatSeal about 4 to 6 weeks before calving in heifers and at dry off in cows. The evidence is clear on this one in both heifers and cows.

Figure 1 shows the incidence of clinical mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation for heifers on three farms over three successive seasons - two seasons without TeatSeal and one with TeatSeal.

The research on TeatSeal use in cows is just as clear. Meta-analysis (pooled analysis of all the research data) showed that TeatSeal used in combination with an antibiotic dry cow product reduced the incidence of clinical mastitis in the first 100 - 150 days of lactation by 29 % when compared to an antibiotic dry cow product alone. When compared to no treatment, the use of TeatSeal alone reduced the risk of clinical mastitis in the first 100 - 150 days of lactation by a massive 48 % (Rabiee and Lean, 2013).

Should I use a blanket dry cow strategy or a selective dry cow strategy?

This all depends on the predominant mastitis-causing bacteria in your herd, the prevalence of clinical mastitis in your herd, whether you herd test or not and the BMCC. If you are not sure - blanket dry cow and TeatSeal is the safest option.

The following flow chart based on the current CountDown recommendations on the next gives a good guide as to whether or not you should consider using selective dry cow therapy or blanket dry cow therapy.

Should I use Orbenin Enduro or a Generic 600 mg tube or a Generic 500mg?

The reason for using an antibiotic dry cow therapy is to cure existing sub-clinical infections over the dry period. The ability of a dry cow therapy to do this depends on two things.

Firstly, the antibiotic sensitivity of the predominant mastitis-causing bacteria in your herd. You can gather this information by either regularly doing milk cultures on mastitis cases throughout the season using the Mastaplex system or having a Bayer Antibiogram run on a bulk milk sample prior to dry off.

Secondly, the length of time the dry cow therapy persists in the udder at a concentration that will kill the bacteria. The sensitivity of a bacteria to an antibiotic is measured by the MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration). This is the minimum concentration the antibiotic needs to achieve in the udder to kill the bacteria.

If you are using the Mastaplex on-farm milk culture system, you will have access to detailed data on MIC values for the various mastitis-causing bacteria in your herd. The MIC 50 and MIC 90 can be calculated - these are the minimum antibiotic concentrations that will kill 50 % and 90 % of the population of mastitis-causing bacteria in your herd. Data from a local herd showing the MIC 50 and 90 for Staph aureus and Strep uberis for cloxacillin is shown in Table 1 below.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the MIC 90 (1 ug/ml) for Strep. uberis will be reached for about only 7 days with the generic 500 mg cloxacillin dry cow product, 36 days with the generic 600 mg cloxacillin dry cow product and 47 days with Orbenin Enduro. The MIC 90 (4.0 ug/ml) for Staph. aureus will be reached for only 4 days with a generic 500 mg cloxacillin dry cow, 25 days with the generic 500 mg cloxacillin and 35 days with Orbenin Enduro.Vaccines and Drenches and Minerals

As a minimum, all cows and heifers should be vaccinated with Ultravac 7 in 1 and Scourshield at dry off (or prior to calving). Bovillis S, Pestigard and Ultravac Botulinum may also be necessary on some farms. If you are considering using any of the BRD vaccines at dry off, please talk to one of our vets as there are many options and potential combinations of vaccines out there and what suits one farm may not be ideal on another.

If you find you are using lots of vaccines at dry off, talk to one of our vets about the potential for “overloading” cows with vaccine antigens (especially gram negative antigens) as you may need to space out your vaccination program over a couple of weeks.

Keep an eye out for a new vaccine against Strep. uberis mastitis (UBAC manufactured by Hipra) that has recently been registered in Australia.

If you are using a drench at dry off - make sure it has a zero milk withhold to avoid any residue issues if cows or heifers calve early. Due to the ever-increasing level of parasite resistance, any drench used should be a dual active drench meaning Cydectin Platinum is the best choice at dry off.

Multimin can be given as a “booster” at dry off if cows are being turned out onto pastures that are really mineral deficient but is generally best left until cows are entering the springer paddock as you want the immune system boosting effects to be present around calving.

Autumn Dry Cow Bundling Offer - March to June - Bundle up your TeatSeal and dry cow purchase with vaccines, drenches and minerals at dry off and save. For each vaccine, drench or pack of Multimin you purchase with your dry cow, you receive $0.05 off each tube of dry cow and TeatSeal - to be eligible for this discount you must purchase an equivalent number of doses of vaccine or drench as dry cow and/or TeatSeal. In addition, we are offering a volume discount of up to $0.15 per tube and talk to us about extended trading terms for large bundled purchases.

For example - purchase 400 tubes of Enduro and 400 tubes of TeatSeal along with a pack of 7 in 1, Scourshield and Multimin and save $120 ($80 bundling deal and $40 volume discount). Add in a pack of drench and save $160 ($120 bundling deal and $40 volume discount) and so on...

Bundle at least one vaccine / drench / Multimin with your dry cow and TeatSeal and receive a free on-farm Dairy Focus Dry Off Consult where we cover off everything you need to know about drying cows off for maximum effect and benefit - timing / production levels / dry cow selection / dry cow techniques / pre and post dry off management / mastitis targets etc.