Two main aspects to Teagasc mastitis control programme

THE main reasons for high SCCs include: faulty milking machines, faulty milking technique such as taking clusters off under vacuum, poor hygiene, inadequate teat disinfectant, inadequate SCC records and culling, problems with the power supply, and inappropriate antibiotic use in problem herds.

The aim should be to keep SCCs consistently under 200,000, and have very few cases of mastitis. The SCCs of first lactation animals should be consistently under 80,000. If the SCCs of first calvers and other young cows are rising, there is certainly something wrong, and urgent action should be taken.

If SCCs average over 200,000, it indicates some level of infection in the herd which is likely to give rise to sporadic outbreaks of mastitis. Diseases such as BVD can depress the immune system and give rise to SCC problems.