Help I have Jerseys and I have a persistant Bactoscan problem. It becomes acute as the butterfats rise. I have tried /checked everything. Is there a body out there that will come in and systematically trace identify and deal with this problem- any one got any ideas? Thanks

If there really is a correllation between high fat & the elevated results, could there is fat building up somewhere? If we have a higher than normal result, it's usually because the bulk tank needs a good manual clean - at busy times it can go 2 or 3 weeks on the auto wash, but that always seems to allow a few patches of fat residue to start forming.

Hedgemonkey, have a full bacteriological breakdown done. It will show up where the problem is by the type(s) of bacteria in the sample. Your dairy should already have suggested this, ask them where they get samples tested for Bactoscan, any of the labs with a bactoscan machine will be able to do a full breakdown for around £40 and advise you on action to take. Be careful the labs can have a £100 invoice minimum, get the dairy to pay for it and knock it off your milk cheque. There are 3 labs I know of, ADAS - wolverhampton, whatever Genus is called now - East of York and Global at Mirfield, West Yorks (01924 499776). Good luck

I guess your SCC (Cell Counts) are all ok, suggesting the problem is with the milking machine or milk storage? Is your milking machine well maintained and been serviced recently? One thing which may sound obvious is that a local farm to me had a problem and it turned out to be growth on the tank lid - which wasn't washed by the autowash or when washed manually. Hope this helps, if it you have high SCCs I would suggest consulting your vet as well. James

Thanks for responses I have done full breakdowns in the past and they give useful pointers but that is where I run up against the lack of analysis skills- Ie That bug comes from X source, but we cant tell you where that bug may be lurking.. We use Gloucs Labs and they are helpful but I am hoping to find some one who can look at my results and come down and locate the problem/ source and provide a solution permanantly.!! We do a hot wash twice a day, we use D60, the temp is 85 and plant is serviced regularly, I am at my wits end.....:-{

check your tanker driver is allowing the full 2 min stir as all the bacteria will cling to the cream if ( butter fats ) if the tank is not stird long enough you will get a higher bacto scan result check and see maybe check the tanker driver stirs the tank for long enough and he dosent take the bung out before he has sampled your milk as all the dirty air and bacteria from his hose will come into your tank then go into his sample pot .

this may be barking completely up the wrong tree but for a short time we had unusually high bactoscan`s. After speaking to a neighbour I discovered he had similar results on the same days, this was also true of 2 more neighbours. The only thing we had in common was the water supply. After complaining to NW Water and haveing them test the water which they said was OK, Shortly afterwards we have had the 9" water main changed. Bacto`s now fairly steady. AC

We were using D60 a while ago and noticed bactoscan results going up. We changed on to CIP liquid +hypo and they’re back down acceptable again. We trialled a tub of Kilco ‘Top Brand’ a couple of months ago and it was even better. Not sure how it costs out at as it was a ‘freebee’ -worth a try (01576205480) Also some good basic advice (to double check) on http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotirios.karvountzis/referral/cleaning.htm Hope you soon get sorted. What BF% do your Jerseys get?

i use D60 for the hot morning wash and cold water and hypo at night and my bacto scans are between 11 and 23

Bactoscan problems are usually down to a build up of fat deposits somewhere in the system, usually the bulk tank-especially the outlet. Tip for cleaning DX tanks:- Fill a knapsack sprayer with a couple of gallons of hypochlorite and spray the inside of the tank through the access hatch-rinse well! Dont know if this is an approved method but it beats crawling around inside with a brush!

Hypochlorite won't work for me on it's own. The simplest thing is a bucket of hot water with ordinary washing up liquid in it + long handled brush - followed by thorough rinse or better full auto clean.

just as an afterthought, have you washed out the pulsation line of the parlour lately- it can make a difference?

sam t mann great web site .

Try renewing the seal in the back of your milk pump,this is a common problem if not changed regularly.

Otherthings which were in my Mastitis teaching are: * Check pulse line * Check all pulsator filters * Check regulator filters Which bacteria have been found?

Thanks fopr the link Thats a great site. I shall ring them tomorrow for a chat and see if they can solve my probs. I am v grateful for all the responses- I think it can safely be said that my high bactoscan days are numbered!! Have good Christmasses one and all I will let you all know what I was doing wrong/ what the solution was in the new year.

Just changed it recently and 3 months prior too.

Are you sure you have a problem ? What I mean by that is do you trust the results you are being given and probably paid with. Do you sell to a co-op by any chance ? J.B

What? J.B Come out from behind your initials and show yourself..!

It would be intersting to do your own independant analysis just in case of contamination by poor technique on the drivers' part. Sorry if this offends anyone, but we seem to get through tanker drivers at a fair rate these days - they hardly get used to the job before they move on - not much incentive for careful sampling is there?

Agree that Tanker drivers come and go but I have two units and only one shows a problem so there seems to be no prob with this particular driver! We did have a query over one driver who was opening the tap on the tank instead of using the sampling equipment when the level in the tank was low.

We've just had to have a change of tanker firm (you don't know what you had, till it's gone!) and the new tankers have 'automatic samplers'. The driver has to enter 'estimated pick-up litres' and then the gadget allows 6 squirts of milk into the sample jar at 'evenly spaced intervals'. Wonderful, we thought, ... a fair sample, untouched by human hand ... but some drivers (any one of 12/no regulars!) over-ride it and fill it within seconds of attaching the pipe! Amazingly, the results back have been OK ... so far. -but will be difficult to check/verify if they did go 'hay-wire'. [i]If my memory serves me, JB is Ex DFoB and now a 'direct supplier'. - Still no regrets JB?[/i]

If the plant is OK,have a look at the bedding-could bacteria be building up there,only other suggestion is pre-dipping, but I bet you've done all this already!

A freind of mine had the same problem.Found a very small hole in the suction pipe from the chemical in the tank auto cleaner, so that the auto wash was not getting enough chemical.After finding the hole and fixing pipe, Bactoscan now nearing normal.

Well remembered.You probably remember bactoscan results were one of the main reasons I left. Not one regret should have gone years ago !