Dairy Cattle

This brief management guideline provides producers with specific management tactics that may minimize the potential for short- and long-term problems. These tactics, categorized in order of early, advanced, and severe drought stages, are based on specific characteristics including water loss, forage growth, and rainfall.

This publication contains English-Spanish translations of common dairy reproduction terminology to help producers better use Spanish to evaluate reproductive management and communicate with employees.

Prevalence of mastitis in unbred, breeding-age and pregnant dairy heifers is higher than formerly realized. Infected mammary quarters, especially those with Staph. aureus IMI, exhibit reduced mammary gland secretory potential, marked leukocyte infiltration and the accompanying inflammation. Both nonlactating and lactating commercial antibiotic infusion products have been used successfully to cure existing infections and reduce SCC, and nonlactating therapy prevents new IMI with environmental streptococci. However, the goal is to prevent new infections from occurring in these young dairy animals through management strategies aimed at vaccination, use of teat seals, fly control and dietary supplementation. As global milk quality standards become more stringent, management practices based on curing existing infections and preventing new IMI in heifers will ensure that these young dairy animals enter the milking herd free of mastitis and with low SCC. Such practices should be considered for incorporation into dairy herd health programs in herds suffering from a high prevalence of heifer mastitis, especially mastitis caused by Staph. aureus. Not only do these practices reduce new infections in first-calf heifers at parturition, they also reduce the introduction of Staph. aureus to the milking herd.