Heifer teat sealing is one of the most effective interventions we can perform to improve animal welfare on farms across New Zealand.
Heifer mastitis before or after calving, or during the first lactation, significantly affects udder health and lifetime milk yield.
Heifers have been shown to have a higher risk of clinical mastitis in early lactation than older cows and without teat sealing, heifer mastitis rates are reported to reach 25% on New Zealand farms. Mastitis in early lactation typically occurs within 7 days after calving and these infections are usually picked up from the environment in late pregnancy when udders are swollen and/or dripping milk. The associated costs and complications with heifer mastitis are clear and prevention of intramammary infections is the quickest way to protect your time and investment in heifers before they join your milking herd. Mastitis in the first lactation has a significant impact on lifetime production even if cured.
Teat sealant administered at least four weeks prior to calving dramatically reduces clinical mastitis (an 84% reduction in Strep uberis infection at calving and 68% reduction in mastitis in the first two weeks of lactation) and is key to giving your herd the best possible start to their milking life. The non-antibiotic substance forms a physical barrier blocking the entry of bacteria into the udder through the dry period, through calving and into lactation.
Vet Services Hawkes Bay and Vet Services Dannevirke offer a teatsealing service. Starting in May our fully trained and experienced technician teams will be visiting dairy farms across the region to help with preparations for the spring calving season. If your heifers are calm and accustomed to the dairy shed, the work can be completed there. However, for majority of jobs we use our teatsealing trailer. Designed to run off yards and a race, the trailer makes it easier to insert teatseal, keeping up to 6 heifers safely restrained during the process.
If you are planning to also treat some cows with teat sealants only at drying off, it is important to follow very strict hygiene protocols, and everyone that is doing the job must follow these. Vet Services are happy to run staff training sessions on farm or to provide extra pairs of hands on the day of dry off – just give your local clinic a call to make the arrangements.
After teatsealing, Dairy farmers can now send the used plastic from the syringe tubes back to their veterinary clinic for recycling. Zoetis launched a recycling initiative with TerraCycle in 2022 and in the last two seasons have collected over 800kg of returned tubes from Vet Services to be sent to Future Post for recycling into farm products. We look forward to continuing to support the programme as a recycling drop off point for the used plastic syringes again this year.
To find out more about heifer teatsealing or the Teatseal recycling programme please give our team a call on 06 858 9060.
