Dr.iCow’s Diary
Date: 28.01.2020
Dear Dr.iCow,
Yule ng’ombe wangu ameanza kupunguza maziwa asubuhi na jioni na simugonjwa. Shida ni nini? Ni Sylvester from Bomet, Kenya.
(My cow has started producing less milk in the morning and evening and the cow doesn’t look sick. What could be the issue?)
From Sylvester from Bomet, Kenya.
Discussion:
The cow belonging to Sylvester calved a few months ago but her milk yields have been going down by about 1 kg both in morning and afternoon milking. Feeding is good as before and the cow is not showing any signs of illness.
Dear Sylvester,
The reduction of milk production from your cow could be caused by subclinical mastitis which is a very common cause of sudden drop in milk yield in dairy cows. You may fail to notice the infection because it does not show clinical signs.
A cow with subclinical mastitis will appear unaffected by the illness, experience a reduction in milk yield potential and is a possible source of infection for other cows, who can become infected and show clinical mastitis or suffer from subclinical mastitis depending on a cow’s immune status. To be sure that she is free from subclinical mastitis it is important for a vet doctor to take milk samples from the cow for analysis, culture and sensitivity tests in a veterinary investigation laboratory –VIL. Please call a vet.
Other causes of reduction in milk production are; during heat or oestrus, ingestion of mycotoxins or toxic weeds in the forages or pastures, inadequate drinking water and dry forages, minerals imbalances, debilitating conditions or diseases and internal parasites.
Please consider the cow to have suspected subclinical mastitis until laboratory results are out. To avoid infecting other cows it is advisable to separate her from healthy ones and she should be milked last awaiting laboratory results ad treatment.
In dairy cattle mastitis assumes a major economic importance. Mastitis causative agents can be contagious, spread from cow to cow, or environmental from dirty or wet conditions in the cow’s area of stay like zero-grazing unit.
In clinical mastitis infection signs like udder redness and swelling can be seen. Subclinical mastitis is not readily detectable by manual palpation or visual examination using a strip cup and its diagnoses depend largely on indirect tests and hence the need to take milk samples for analysis in a laboratory.
Subclinical mastitis reduces milk production, decreases milk quality and suppresses reproductive performance. The cost of subclinical mastitis is higher than that of clinical mastitis.
Thank you.
From your Friend and Advisor,
Dr.iCow