Udder health tips for early lactation
13 Aug 2021
Achieving good teat condition in the first six weeks of lactation will be critical to managing mastitis through the season. Key to this is ensuring you have the right emollient levels in your teat spray and you’re achieving good coverage.
Why is teat skin so sensitive?
In the wet, muddy conditions so typical of New Zealand farms at this time of the year, topped with the stress of calving and the start of lactation, maintaining good teat condition is undoubtedly a constant battle.
Teat skin has no hair follicles, no sweat glands, and relatively few sebaceous (oil) glands. This means it is particularly susceptible to drying and cracking.
Water and mud strip the protective natural oils from the skin, inducing hardening and thickening of the teat skin, which may lead to cracking and chapping of the teat itself.
Add to this scenario the fact that a cow’s teat is stretched to a third longer under vacuum during milking – and you have the perfect storm: bacteria inducing pathogens thrive on rough, cracked teat skin. So, it’s really important not to compromise on teat condition.
Why add emollient to teat spray?
No manufactures of teat sprays can formulate a teat spray concentrate enough emollient to provide the levels required in early lactation. Also, the germicidal components (iodine, chlorhexidine) in teat spray, which are used to fight mastitis causing bacteria can be very irritating to teat tissue, especially during periods of cold weather or low humidity.
In addition, surfactants (also a necessary ingredient, to aid in wetting the teat surface) can strip off the natural oils from the teat skin. This results in dry, cracked and sore teats and leads to mastitis causing pathogens being harboured. Cracks and teat sores are painful, making cows uncomfortable during milking – so they often kick and stomp, plus milk let-down will likely be poor.
“Our advice to farmers is to soften the cows’ teats to make the milking process more comfortable for them and to prevent teat damage” says National Sales Manager Bede Murphy. “To achieve this, use 12 – 16 percent emollient to condition the teats and provide greater elasticity in the skin.”
3 steps to optimal teat condition:
1. Use an emollient that actively restores teat health
A good quality emollient, like FIL's Active Teat Conditioner, works to actively restore teat health. It also provides intensive care to severely cracked or chapped teats. Made with special ingredients like Aloe Vera, Allantoin and Manuka honey, products used in human skincare for many years, Active Teat Conditioner is designed to hydrate, soften and soothe delicate teat skin.
Allantoin is a natural and active moisturising agent that is known to have skin rejuvenation properties. Aloe Vera is commonly used for treating sunburn. Rich in antioxidants and minerals, it works well to restore the condition of stressed teats.
Manuka honey (also used in other FIL teat products) has been added for its anti-inflammatory properties, which will aid in skin regeneration and repair of cellular damage.
The base of this product is Glycerine which is an effective moisturiser, taking water from the air and holding it against the skin to help it keep hydrated. In the six months of trialling, farmers have achieved outstanding results with this product, says Bede. It’s also approved for use on organic farms.
2. Work out the emollient levels in your use solution
Bede notes that farmers typically use a mix rate of 1:4 or 1:6 in the spring time.
“Instead of taking a ‘one size fits all approach’, what we should be doing is looking at the active levels of iodine, chlorhexidine and emollients in the use solution. In other words, what is the emollient concentrate once water has been added to the mix and do we need to add extra emollient to achieve the ideal 12 – 16 percent concentration level?”
3. Check your teat spray application
Once you have emollient levels sorted, check that teat spray is being properly applied advises Colin. Too often, application can let you down.
In manual systems, it’s important to spray in a circular motion to ensure full coverage of all teats. Automatic teat sprayers must be calibrated to ensure proper coverage.
To check for optimal spray coverage, wrap a paper tissue around the teat and pull down from the udder to the end of the teat. If the teat spray appears in stripes on the paper, application needs to be checked and corrected.
