In dairy farming, finding the balance between animal welfare, animal health and economic aspects is hard work. However, scientific research has consistently been providing us with useful instruments and information, such as all things around somatic cell count (SCC) and udder health.
Milk losses linked to high individual SCC are the consequence of the immune response at udder level against infections and are related to the loss of functionality and productive capacity of the udder tissue.
Generally, mastitis prevention and control strategies within herds are more intensively implemented in pre-fresh and fresh heifers. For this reason, high SCC appears to occur more frequently among multiparous cows, probably because of a reduction in immune resistance as age progresses.
Udder development continues after calving in heifers; however, there is also another reason for this tighter attention to udder health, that is the need to cover the rearing costs for each heifer.
Gonçalves and colleagues (2018)1 assessed the reduction of milk yields associated with subclinical mastitis (thus, high SCCs) by parity and stage of lactation. Estimations revealed that milk losses are higher in second- and third-parity cows than in first-parity animals. Moreover, independently from the number of parity, mid-lactation losses per unit increase of SCC (100,000 cells/ml) are generally lower than early and late-lactation milk losses.
Data reported by Gonçalves and colleagues indicates that, to interpret the cow’s milk production accurately, it is important to take parity and stage of lactation into account. Moreover, this data would allow the farmer to better establish production goals at farm level, considering the specific cutoff point and the mastitis control and prevention strategies to be implemented.
Supporting the cow’s udder tissue from the first lactation to the end of her productive life fits into control and prevention strategies. For this reason, OZOLEA provides farmers with a no-withdrawal veterinary device, OZOLEA-MAST. Depending on the causes leading to high SCC, OZOLEA-MAST can help lower somatic cells in high and chronically high SCC.
OZOLEA-MAST allows the mammary tissue to autonomously regenerate, thus improving udder functionality. The result of tissue regeneration is a reduction in flaking cells and a better defensive action against pathogens. This is due to better performance of the improved tissue condition.
Find out more about other OZOLEA contents about the impact of SCC on milk production and udder health:
Somatic cell count: insights and OZOLEA’s solutions
https://www.ozolea.it/somatic-cell-count-insights-and-ozoleas-solutions/
References
Gonçalves, Juliano & Cue, Roger & Botaro, Bruno & Horst, José & Valloto, Altair & Santos, Marcos. (2018). Milk losses associated with somatic cell counts by parity and stage of lactation. Journal of Dairy Science. 101. 10.3168/jds.2017-13286.
Cover image: ph. Jorien Loman. Image available here.
