How herd’s mastitis rate dropped 37% after water treatment
Contaminated water troughs can soon transmit pathogens around the farm water supply © Tim Scrivener Improving water hygiene on a 260-cow herd led to a 37% drop in the mastitis rate. Bulk tank cell count and Bactoscan numbers also fell below thresholds that trigger financial penalties on the milk cheque.
The farm was also able to reintroduce a second borehole that had been abandoned five years ago owing to hygiene concerns, saving on mains water.
Vet Phil Elkins of FarmWater said that over five years, the cost of treating and maintaining the water system would be about £2 a cow a month, including kit purchase.
See also: 5 tips to help ensure dairy cows drink enough water
Citing a known link between water contamination and environmental mastitis, he said water treatment could be an important tool in reducing udder health challenges.
He pointed out that private supplies, such as boreholes, can act as a vector for pathogens – helped by contamination of water troughs when cows drink.
Bacteria easily replicate in large header tanks, particularly when black tanks are exposed to warm sunlight, with biofilms forming on pipework and in troughs.
Cleaning out convoluted systems using chlorine dioxide can reduce pathogen build up and remove biofilms to improve water quality.
Treatment and monitoring
Phil’s case study, like many dairy farms, had a complicated water supply. Despite having two boreholes, only one was “clean” enough to use. The second had caused issues with human and calf health.
To test whether cleaning water could improve udder health as well as water quality, Phil monitored mastitis, cell count and Bactoscan data for 12 months following a system treatment in the herd.
No other management changes were made. Results were compared with the previous 12 months (see table).
He also sampled water quality in colony forming units (cfu/ml). Results from various points along the water supply system ranged from zero to 40cfu/ml, with one field trough at 176cfu/ml and a yard trough at 2cfu/ml.
After treatment, water sampling at three water access points produced two samples at zero and one with 1cfu/ml.
Herd health data before and after water treatment |
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Before |
After |
% change |
|
Mastitis rate for every 100 cows a year (%) |
27 |
17 |
-37% |
|
Bulk tank cell count (/ml) |
119,000 |
86,000 |
-28% |
|
Bulk tank samples greater than 100,000 cells/ml (%) |
72 |
22 |
-69% |
|
Bulk tank Bactoscan (/ml) |
86,000 |
16,000 |
-81% |
|
Bulk tank Bactoscan readings greater than 50,000/ml (%) |
24 |
7 |
-71% |
Phil Elkins was speaking at the British Mastitis Conference, Worcester, on 18 June.