round table discussion - National Mastitis Council

As repeat winners, the Dellar family maintains milk quality success in their
herd with over 30,000 pounds (a 3,000-pound jump from last year’s winning
application) of production from 200 milking cows. Ryan and Charina Dellar are
pictured with their children, Gavin and Carmen, near their Harrisville, Mich.,
facility. This year, Dellar Dairy lowered its somatic cell count from 53,000 to
43,333 as a 12-month average. Cattle are housed in a sand-bedded free stall
barn where alleys are scraped three times per day — during each milking. The
herd is milked in a double-10 parallel parlor. “Ryan and Charisa pay close attention
to even the finest details while constantly researching and implementing
innovative ideas,” says nominator Preston Cole with Michigan Milk.
to provide good stimulation and thoroughly dry
them. Then we wait 60 to 90 seconds for good milk
letdown before attaching the milking unit. We also
use silicone liners, changed regularly, and check
pulsation rates regularly. We use cloth towels.
MSU: We work closely with our milking equipment
dealer to insure equipment is functioning
properly and use good teat dips.
True: We like an emollient in predip and postdip,
use auto take-offs, routinely monitor vacuum
pressure, do frequent liner changes and switch to
our winter dip in October.
How do you keep cows comfortable?
Beattie: Alleys are scraped twice daily and
stalls are raked once a day. Fresh sand is put
in once per week. Bedded-pack cows are bedded
twice a day with chopped straw. Waterers are
cleaned every other day except in summer months
when they get cleaned daily.
Davenport: We use kiln-dried pine sawdust at
0.5 cubic foot per tie stall per day with 2 ounces
of hydrated lime on foam mattresses. Manure is
scraped by hand at least six times per day, continuously
during milking. We open our barn and
turn on overhead fans during warm weather. Our
barn is closed with eave inlets and a thermostatically
controlled fan when below 30°F.
Dellar: Sand-bedded free stalls are raked every
day, and manure is kicked out at every milking. Alleys
are scraped three times a day at each milking.
New bedding is put in every five to six days. Waterers
are cleaned weekly. We also use tarps/side curtains
and fans to accommodate weather conditions.
Kartes: We have a four-row head-to-head free
stall barn with a feed alley through the center.
We run a one cow per stall capacity at the max,
so overcrowding is never an issue. Our free stalls
are bedded with beach sand every two weeks. Our
barn also has 14-foot sidewalls with curtains all
the way from top to bottom for optimum ventilation.
The barn is completely scraped twice daily
at milking times, and all personnel carry a sand
rake when bringing cows to the parlor. Also, any
sand is leveled flat in stalls at this time.
MSU: Gel mats and pasture mats are scraped
and rebedded twice a day. Comfortable bedding
includes putting down hydrated lime, then kiln
dried sawdust.
True: Sand-bedded stalls are groomed each day
and get more sand twice a week. At each milking,
62nd Annual HOARD’S DAIRYMAN ROUND TABLE
we clean out the backs of the stalls and scrape alleys.
We also monitor neck rails and free stalls to
make sure the measurements are correct.
each pen has its own sprinklers, plus the holding
area has a soaker. The pens and holding area
have 60-inch fans which enhance the natural ventilation.
We have curtains for inclement weather.
We use foot baths on the exit alley of the parlor
and rubber belting in all feed alleys. Feed pushup
occurs 12 times per day.
How do you detect subclinical cases?
Beattie: DhI hot sheet and CMT.
Davenport: CMT screening or DhI high SCC
cow list.
Dellar: CMT paddle and PortaSCC strips along
with our DhI hot sheet.
Kartes: We CMT paddle all fresh and dry-off
cows. Also watch milk weights and conductivity
reports daily.
MSU: DhI hot sheet, DeLaval cell counter and
CMT paddle.
True: Monthly DhI SCC testing and CMT testing
on suspicious quarters.
How do you detect clinical mastitis?
Beattie: Forestripping, udder abnormalities, cow
behavior and CMT.
Davenport: Strip cup, backed up with CMT.
Dellar: Prestripping in addition to observing
udders and cow appearance.
Kartes: Prestrip every cow, visually check every
cow after milking for abnormal quarters.
MSU: Stripping as part of milking procedures.
True: Forestripping, low production, CMT testing
and watch for abnormal udder appearance.
Describe your fresh-cow monitoring.
Beattie: We monitor each cow closely by checking
milk, body temperature and udder swelling.
We use the CMT on third milking and treat any
positive quarters with Spectramast LC.
Davenport: All fresh cows are CMTed, and
prefresh cows are checked visibly for swollen
quarters or teat damage. For any high counts not
attributed to colostrum, we culture and use the
quarter milker until results are obtained. Since
it is often no growth, any more clinical signs are
cultured but treated with an over-the-counter
broad spectrum lactating remedy.
Dellar: DhI monthly hot sheet, CMT paddle
An 87,000 SCC put Circle K Farms in the 2012 National Dairy Quality Awards
winners’ circle. Their farm currently has 250 Holstein cows that are milked in
a double-16 parallel parlor. In the parlor, milking technicians wear gloves and
follow a written protocol, with five of the six milkers being family members.
The Kartes’ parlor records daily milk weights and uses conductivity to detect
mastitis. Circle K is owned by Brad and Debby Kartes and achieves 24,000
pounds of milk per cow in West Branch, Mich. In addition to the low SCC, the
farm’s standard plate count averaged 1,170 in the 12-month period of the application.
Pictured are (Back, L to R) Cole, Brad, Debbie and Keith. (Front, L to
R) Tucker, Adysen, Lauren, holding Duke; Heather and Hayden Kartes.
and PortaSCC strips. We CMT paddle each cow on
the fifth milking. If the CMT is good, we pull individual
quarter samples and run the PortaSCC on
each quarter. When all quarters are below 50,000,
the cow’s milk enters the tank. If the CMT is bad, a
sample is taken and a culture is performed on farm.
Kartes: We milk all fresh cows in the bucket
for six days, then we CMT paddle all quarters. We
have to get a negative result in all quarters before
that cow’s milk goes in the bulk tank. We also
heavily prestrip and watch daily milk weights
and conductivity levels. If we get a positive, we
will on-farm culture that cow and treat her with a
lactation therapy according to the pathogen.
MSU: After a negative Delvo test for antibiotics,
we check SCC with a DeLaval cell counter.
True: We use visual monitoring of colostrum
and forestripping at freshening. Otherwise, we
use monthly SCC testing by DhI, forestripping to
monitor for mastitis and vet-established mastitis
treatment protocols. We do routine bulk tank culturing
for mastitis pathogens. Treated cows are
milked in a separate flat parlor.
What steps do you take at dry-off?
Beattie: Cows are taken off TMR, fed dry hay
and milked once a day for five to seven days to lower
their milk production, then at dry-off day, they are
administered with Albadry Plus, then Orbeseal.
Cows are in a bedded-pack barn that is sawdust
bedded. They have access to a dirt lot for exercise.
The barn is bedded two times per week and cleaned
once a week. Two to three weeks prior to calving, the
cows get moved to a comfortable straw pack barn.
Davenport: Dry cows are isolated from the milking
string and fed free-choice 58 NDF grass hay and
water. We milk them once daily until production is
less than 20 pounds per day. To dry teat, we swab
each teat end with an alcohol pad and simultaneously
inject one tube of Quartermaster while massaging
the quarter. That is followed with a tube of
Orbeseal, postdip and a shot of Triangle 10.
Cows have access to grass pasture for all but
the worst weather. When inside, we use 56 to 58
NDF grass haylage and minerals with refusals to
30-day prefresh cows and heifers.
Dellar: A Spectramast DC tube is used in each
quarter followed by Orbeseal teat sealant. J-5 vaccine
is given at dry-off and one to two weeks before
calving. We also monitor the last DhIA score.
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