A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd
(1) Background: Selective dry cow therapy is widely promoted in many countries worldwide, however, concerns have been raised about the consequences of the unhygienic application of preparations by untrained operators, especially if no antimicrobials are being used, risking deteriorating mastitis out...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/14/2318 |
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| author | Peter Plate Steven van Winden |
| author_facet | Peter Plate Steven van Winden |
| author_sort | Peter Plate |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | (1) Background: Selective dry cow therapy is widely promoted in many countries worldwide, however, concerns have been raised about the consequences of the unhygienic application of preparations by untrained operators, especially if no antimicrobials are being used, risking deteriorating mastitis outcomes. (2) Method: This study follows up on cows being dried off by farm staff and those dried off by final-year veterinary students and first-year graduate interns in a supervised training session. Subsequent mastitis parameters and culling data in a single herd with a low somatic cell count were evaluated. (3) Results: A total of 316 dry periods were enrolled in the study. There was no significant difference in the percentage of cows showing at least one high SCC reading within 90 days of the following lactation or cows with at least one case of clinical mastitis within the same period, neither in the total nor in the subset of cows dried off without an antimicrobial. Dry period cure rates and dry period new infection rates were similar too, as was the percentage of cows surviving in the herd after six months. The risk of culling within twelve months post-drying off was lower in cows dried off by students, the difference in survival manifesting itself from 150 days post-drying off, which is an unexplained finding. (4) Conclusion: Well-supervised practical training sessions on drying off routine can be responsibly implemented on well-managed commercial dairy herds. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:22:25Z |
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| id | doaj.art-51cdbd3f65af44d299ad5d1bb67eb766 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:22:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-51cdbd3f65af44d299ad5d1bb67eb7662023-11-18T18:00:40ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152023-07-011314231810.3390/ani13142318A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy HerdPeter Plate0Steven van Winden1Farm Animal Health and Production Group, Department for Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UKFarm Animal Health and Production Group, Department for Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK(1) Background: Selective dry cow therapy is widely promoted in many countries worldwide, however, concerns have been raised about the consequences of the unhygienic application of preparations by untrained operators, especially if no antimicrobials are being used, risking deteriorating mastitis outcomes. (2) Method: This study follows up on cows being dried off by farm staff and those dried off by final-year veterinary students and first-year graduate interns in a supervised training session. Subsequent mastitis parameters and culling data in a single herd with a low somatic cell count were evaluated. (3) Results: A total of 316 dry periods were enrolled in the study. There was no significant difference in the percentage of cows showing at least one high SCC reading within 90 days of the following lactation or cows with at least one case of clinical mastitis within the same period, neither in the total nor in the subset of cows dried off without an antimicrobial. Dry period cure rates and dry period new infection rates were similar too, as was the percentage of cows surviving in the herd after six months. The risk of culling within twelve months post-drying off was lower in cows dried off by students, the difference in survival manifesting itself from 150 days post-drying off, which is an unexplained finding. (4) Conclusion: Well-supervised practical training sessions on drying off routine can be responsibly implemented on well-managed commercial dairy herds.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/14/2318selective dry cow therapymastitisstudent teachingdrying off routinesomatic cell counts (SCC) |
| spellingShingle | Peter Plate Steven van Winden A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd Animals selective dry cow therapy mastitis student teaching drying off routine somatic cell counts (SCC) |
| title | A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd |
| title_full | A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd |
| title_fullStr | A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd |
| title_short | A Comparison of Dry Period Outcomes after Selective Dry Cow Therapy Carried Out by Farm Staff versus Veterinary Students in a Low-Cell-Count Dairy Herd |
| title_sort | comparison of dry period outcomes after selective dry cow therapy carried out by farm staff versus veterinary students in a low cell count dairy herd |
| topic | selective dry cow therapy mastitis student teaching drying off routine somatic cell counts (SCC) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/14/2318 |
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