Today I've decided to write a different post compared to the
other’s that I've written. Recently quite a few people (mainly Lucy Phillips –
Hi!) have asked me what “dipping” is and why we do it, therefore I've decided
to write this post.
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| The parlour |
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| Premilking dip |
After bringing in the cows and feeding them, we dip the teats
with conditioning dip. The pre-milking dip is used to clean the udders. This
helps to reduce the amount of bacteria that’s spread by the clusters and the amount
of bacteria that finds its way into the milk supply. This can reduce the spread
of mastitis among the dairy herd. Dipping the teats also promotes the letdown of milk which helps to speed up the milking process.
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| Postmilking dip |
When the cows have finished milking, we dip the teats with
postmilking dip. We use an iodine based dip which helps to destroy the mastitis
organisms that are on the teat. Postmilking dips prevent the development of new
infections by about 50% and are useful in overall milking hygiene.
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| Clusters |
On the farm we have a system of identifying cows with
mastitis, other infectious diseases and those that are in calf. Red (mastitis) and
blue (infectious disease) tape indicate that we need to wash the clusters
before putting them onto another cow and green tape (cows/heifers in calf)
shows us that they may decide to kick. When wiping away the premilking dip, we don’t
use the same tissue to clean the cows after those with blue and red tape.
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