Friday, July 7, 2017

Test, Don't Guess: Monitoring Bacteria Counts in "as-fed" Milk

The July, 2017, issue of the calf management newsletter focuses on a quality-control issue important for reducing the rate of scours treatments among preweaned calves. Click HERE for this issue. If the link does not work on your computer, then enter this in your browser window:
http://www.atticacows.com/library/newsletters/CEJuly2017.pdf 

The key points:
  • Milk residues provide an excellent place for bacteria to grow and form biofilms.
  • Biofilms on equipment are a common source of bacteria in the milk/milk replacer we feed to our calves.
  • Contaminated milk (bacteria) can pose a significant health challenge for young dairy calves resulting in diarrhea and secondary respiratory infections.
  • It is cost effective to regularly sample and culture “as-fed” milk in order to monitor the effectiveness of our sanitation practices.
  • Practical sampling procedures for group and individually-housed calves.
Enjoy.

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