Dl4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday November 24,1984
Milker
BY DR. GEORGE F.W.
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
Bacteria on the inner surfaces of
milking machine clusters can
cause new mastitis infections when
the clusters are transferred from
the infected quarters of one cow to
the uninfected quarters of another
during milking. These bacteria
come from the milk from infected
quarters, from the teat skins, their
lesions >and from dirt in the en
vironment, including everpresent
cow manure.
We used to fight bacteria in the
milking machine clusters by
dipping teat cups in germicidal
rinses, hot solutions or even
steaming them. Two approaches to
dipping are new considered ef
fective for mastitis control: 1)
dipping the cups of milking
machine clusters between cows
during milking and 2) dipping the
teats of each cow after she has
been milking.
Teat dipping is a more recent
and very successful development,
while dipping of teat cups has been
a standard practice for years
especially in stanchion barns
before the development of milking
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backflushing helps control mastitis
parlors.
With the increased automation of
milking parlors, a backflush
system for disinfecting teat cups
has come into use. This system
uses a germicidal solution, clean
rinse and hot air drying cycles to
detroy possible mastitis-causing
bacteria in the teat cups after
milking one cow and before at
taching them to another. This
practice has reduced bacteria
numbers on the liners by nearly 100
percent.
Field surveys show that back
flushing is more effective for
mastitis control than manual teat
cup dipping. This has also been our
experience with the University of
Delaware herd, and we now
routinely backflush our milking
machines morning and night
between all cows.
A recent Kentucky study in
vestigated more systematically
the effects of backflushing on 40
cows. The results showed the
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practice to be very effective in
reducing the spread from cow to
cow of Staphylococcus aureus and
Corynebacterium bovis-both very
contagious mastitis-causing
microorganisms.
Backflushing also significantly
reduced the total number of
bacteria harbored in the teat liners
after as many as 1200 milkings,
while bacterial numbers increased
on liners which were not back
flushed. Since teat dipping was not
used on cows in this herd, the study
constituted a more severe test of
backflushing than otherwise.
Even when teat cups are
backflushed, however, cows which
must pass through muddy bar
nyards would greatly benefit, in
terms of mastitis control, if mud
and manure were removed before
milking-either by passing through
washstands or by washing in the
holding area.
In larger herds and in herds in
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the South this is fairly easy to do,
though in colder climates like ours,
some different engineering is
required to prevent chilling the
cows or even forming ice when
they’re washed. A better solution
would be to allow the herd access
to grass lots where cows can lie
down without getting too dirty. In a
freestall or total confinement
system there should be enough
stalls for every animal in the herd
so none need to lie down in the
aisles. In stanchion or comfort
stalls, renew bedding often during
the day so udders and flanks stay
clean.
Despite its advantages,
automatic backflushing is not for
everyone. Farmers with smaller
herds or temporary cash flow
concerns may find installing a
system fairly expensive to con
sider. In this case, teat dipping
each cow at every milking com
bined with a careful dry cow
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treatment program handled by the
herd owner or herdsman-in other
words, not delegated to hired help,
plus a dry, clean barnyard, a
grassy exercise lot, clean free
stalls or well-bedded stables will
go a long way towards maintaining
effective control of mastitis,
especially subclinical infections.
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