Herd healthy issues such as mastitis can have a big impact on milk production. While bacteriological cultures have been used on dairies for decades as part of a successful mastitis control program, simple mistakes in collecting samples can produce counterproductive results.
Damian Lettieri, veterinarian for Udder Health Systems, recently wrote an article for Progressive Dairyman about how improper supervision and lack of training can compromise an otherwise effective mastitis control program.
Lettieri offers some tips for improving the integrity of collected cultures:
- When collecting samples, ensure the milkers are wearing gloves and have clean hands
- Samples should be collected from each quarter in one vial to create a composite sample from the cow
- Change gloves or wash hands between sampling each fresh cow
- Disinfect the teats prior to sampling a fresh cow or new cows with mastitis to prevent sample contamination
To read the full article and learn more helpful tips, click here.
Tags: cultures, Damian Lettieri, herd health, mastitis, Progressive Dairyman, Udder Health Systems
