Therapy puzzle
Therapy puzzle
IT is impossible to decide which cows need antibiotic dry cow therapy and which dont based on lactation cell counts or cell count at drying off.
Thats according to ADAS Brid-gets Helen Biggadike, reporting an MDC-funded study in which cell counts were monitored before and after calving where cows were receiving no antibiotic dry cow tubes.
A herd, in its first year of organic conversion, sampled 150 of its cows for cell count and bacteria type. Results show no relationship between cell count before drying off and after calving.
There was also no link between monthly cell count records and cell count after calving.
It is, therefore, difficult to say which cows would benefit most from antibiotic treatment or which should be culled, said Miss Biggadike.