Measures
and their effectiveness on Overall SCC and Mastitis
Ranked below in order from top to bottom are the measures taken and their overall effect on SCC and Mastitis. Some measures are much more effective on SCC, and some much more effective for combating Mastitis.
For more detail look at the other tables which show each measure and its importance on either SCC or Mastitis separately.
Rank Comment
Post milking teat disinfection 1 Most important measure by far
Dry cow minerals 2 Again,
very important for Mastitis and SCC both
Flushing clusters 3 Very
effective, especially at stopping sub-clinical SCC & Mastitis
Drying off 4 Timely drying-off
Optimise Feed 5 Feeding same ration same time every day, helps mastitis
Milking subclinical cases last 6 Not possible on most dairy farms
Prevent overcrowding 7 Overcrowding is a very common problem for
herd health
Milking clinical cases last 8 Good, but cluster flush would solve this one
Clean stalls/cubicles 9 Especially important for stopping mastitis
Using a separate cloth 10 Especially important for stopping mastitis
Prestripping 11 This
one is more effective on high SCC
Replace teat liners 12 Important across all areas
Keep cows standing after milking 13 This is more effective on mastitis than SCC
Treatment protocol 14 More important for larger herds
Clean yards .........................................15 This is important for lameness too
Wash dirty udders 16 this can sometimes spread infection if done carelessly
Milkers’ gloves 17 this can sometimes spread infection if gloves are not clean
This doesn’t mean that the measures which are at the bottom of the list are not important. Everything on the list is important.