Mastitis – Focus on cubicle management

Mastitis outbreaks cause dairy farmers a lot of headache and heartache. With reports of between 30 and 70 clinical cases of mastitis per 100 cows per year, the cost of treating mastitis and the subsequent loss of production can be a serious financial burden on many farms. While the cost and losses of clinical cases are easy to see, the costs associated with high Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) can be a hidden challenge on farms.

The old saying “Prevention is better than cure” has never been truer than with the prevention of infection by mastitis causing pathogens. One source of infection is the environment in which the cows live. Herds with high levels of environmental infection will generally have relatively normal SCC levels but high Bactoscan/TBC levels. In these herds it is common to have severe acute cases of mastitis caused by coliform E. coli and Strep. uberis. This is due to the environmental pathogens relatively poor ability to multiply in the teat canal.

Now that herds are housed for the winter period, the importance of cubicle and slurry management cannot be underestimated in the control of environmental infection.  To improve cleanliness, cows should ideally be clipped at housing to remove hair from flanks and udders.

Ideally cows should spend around 14 hours a day lying in cubicles. This behaviour can be encouraged by;

At a minimum this means one cubicle for each cow. However ideally there should be 5 percent more cubicles than cows to allow more choice, particularly for the less dominant cows/heifers in the herd.

Another important consideration is to provide sufficient lunging space for cows to rise. BS5502 provides guidelines on minimum cubicle length.

Cubicle width should allow cows to lie “straight” and not at an angle. Cubicle width is also affected by cubicle design. Space sharing designs, i.e. cantilever design cubicles allow minimum widths of 1.125m (3’ 8”) while those with rear leg design require widths of 1.2m (3’ 11”).

High numbers of cows standing in cubicles, perching or dog sitting would suggest that cubicle size is too small.

While the cleanliness of the cubicle may not encourage cows to lie up, cubicles that are wet or in a draft will discourage their use.

Many varieties of bedding materials are available. The selection of bedding material is generally a compromise between comfort, cost and hygiene driven by availability, storage requirements and ease of handling.

While sand produces a comfortable bed and environment in which mastitis causing pathogens find it difficult to multiply, its use on Northern Ireland farms is limited. This is mainly due to our slurry tank based systems and the difficulty in handling sand once it has been used for bedding.

This is a hugely variable product. You should ensure it has been dried and never use sawdust that can be seen to be heating during storage. This damp material can support large numbers of mastitis causing pathogens and can lead to severe outbreaks of mastitis.  Wood shavings can be an expensive product and tend not to be as absorbent a material as sawdust.

When used as a cubicle bedding material straw must be chopped to allow it to pass freely through slats and prevent blocking. If it is allowed to get damp and dirty, straw can soil cows’ flanks and udders so the management of a straw based system needs attention to detail.

Paper based products haven’t been widely adopted on local units and their availability can be an issue. While some of the granulated products are marketed as having a disinfectant effect and thus controlling pathogen multiplication, they tend to be less absorbent than sawdust and cows bedded in this material can become dirty.

This is a relatively new product on the bedding market, produced from recycled plasterboard. This highly absorbent material is also alkaline and will reduce pathogen multiplication. The product tends not to stick to cows flanks.

Lime is generally used in conjunction with other materials as its alkalinity produces an environment in which pathogens find it difficult to multiply. Excessive use of lime can cause teats and udders to dry out and cause teat damage.

Whichever bedding material is selected it is important that bedding practices provide the cow with a clean dry bed. These practices should include;

Irrespective of the cubicle bed type, those with rubber mats and mattresses still require bedding to keep the cows’ flanks, udder and teats dry and clean. The cheapest bedding material isn’t always the most cost effective if it fails to keep cows clean, comfortable and control infectious pathogens.

The age and size of cubicles vary widely on many farms and the size of the cows within these herds can vary just as widely. Cows which are “too small” for the cubicle will dirty the rear of the cubicle, and this material should be removed at least twice per day.

While the cost of bedding material is important it is relatively inexpensive when compared to the cost of mastitis treatment, lost production or poor milk hygiene penalties. Bedding should be timed to ensure that sufficient material is available to keep cows comfortable and dry.  

The removal of dung and urine from passages is also important as this will reduce the volume of material carried on cow’s feet to the cubicle. Those cows on solid floored systems will obviously require frequent scraping while regular scraping of slats may also benefit mastitis reduction.

While the selection of individual products will be dependant on individual preference there are a few rules to remember. The bedding product should be absorbent, must limit pathogen growth and should keep cows clean and comfortable. Cubicles and passageways should be scraped regularly, particularly those areas which are more crowded and where cows tend to congregate.  For further advice on housing management, please contact your local CAFRE Dairy Development Adviser.

Additional stores of sawdust are placed at the front of the cubicles to allow for easier replacement of soiled material

A cubicle showing a sufficient amount of bedding material to keep cows clean, dry and comfortable

A cubicle with sufficient width and length encourages full occupation of all cubicles