Teat dipping, the easiest way to control mastitis

Dear daktari

I have been in dairy farming for the last 10 years and a keen reader of your informative articles. I have had two encounters with mastitis and the experience was not good. I was forced to dispose of two of my high value dairy animals with a lot of pain. I vowed to fight mastitis on my farm and it is now three years since the last two cases. Recently, I attended a farmer’s field day where I learnt about teat dipping. Kindly educate me on how this technique works. Thanks

Mr Kimunguyi, Bungoma

Thank you for reading Smart Harvest. The udder and teats are arguably the most valued parts of a dairy animal and so great care must be accorded to them to ‘perform optimally’. If the organs are not handled properly, mastitis is an automatic problem to expect. Mastitis is a common disease on most dairy farms and it negatively affects milk production. Udder hygiene is an important practice in the prevention of mastitis.

Another strategy to reduce mastitis is teat dipping when adopted as a routine practice. Teat dipping as the name suggests is the application of disinfectants on the teat and the teat opening with the main goal of preventing entry of disease causing micro-organisms into the teat canal and udder tissues. Milking whether by hand or machines exposes the teat to contamination, injurious strain and subsequently cracks that can harbour bacteria that cause mastitis. Teat dips also soothe the teats and restore their health and subsequently lower chances of infection.

To do it, the teat dip cup should be deep enough to contain the entire length of the teat and should be designed to minimise spillage. Apart from teat dip which is a cup with disinfectant into which the teat is immersed; there are other techniques like teat sprays or oily preparations that can be applied.

Pre-milking Cleaning and teat dipping

When adopting teat dips, a general rule of thumb is “do not disinfect dirty teats”. In fact disinfectants are not effective when applied on dirty teats because in such a case, their killing power on germs is reduced.  Always do pre milking cleaning before application of disinfectants. Although some disinfectants will combine cleaning and disinfectant qualities most are not and hence the need to use clean and warm water to clean the teat and the udder first before disinfection. Ensure the environment you are doing all this is equally clean and dry.

Post milking Teat Dipping

After milking, there is always a film of milk that remains at the tip of the teat or at its opening. This film of milk is the breeding ground for bacteria and from here they multiply and enter into the teat canal and udder tissues causing mastitis. Apart from cleaning away this film, the teat dip disinfectants the teat and its opening thus preventing entry of micro-organisms.

Though post milking teat dipping is important in the prevention of mastitis, many farmers do it wrongly.  Here are factors to consider when teat dipping.

Make sure the whole length of teat is covered. You may not achieve this with spraying technique but can easily do with the teat cup dips. So long as it is of the right size and shape. Complete immersion of the teat ensures total protection by having a large area covered with the disinfectant.

Poor dilution is another challenge. Though most teat dips come already constituted some require dilution by the farmer at the point of use. However temptations to further dilute to save on costs is a common behaviour among farmers.  As a responsible farmer, avoid such costly temptations and stick to manufacturer’s instructions for effectiveness of the teat dip.

Finally, it is important to stress that teat dipping does not cure existing infections. It is a purely preventive measure and not curative. Caution should be taken while using teat dips especially before milking to avoid contamination of milk.

 [The writer is the vet of the year in 2016 and works with the Kenya Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council (KENTTEC) he can be reached via email – [email protected]]


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