Mastitiserreger in der Einstreu, auf der Zitzenhaut und im Zit-zenkanal, sowie in der Milch ökologisch gehaltener Kühe

Summary

The rule to use bedding materials of organic provenance might increase the risk of mammary infections caused by environmental pathogens in organic dairy farming. This study focused on the chain of infection and investigated the presence of the same pathogens in the bedding material, on the teat skin, in the teat canal and in fore-milk samples of organic dairy cows. In 30 farms, one front and one hind quarter of 10 randomly selected cows were sampled. Farms were visited twice. Results revealed that only a few farms used bedding with counts of esculin-positive Streptococci and E. coli above the recommended threshold. Most of the straw samples had increased concentrations of coliforme bacteria, but no correlation between these counts and specific management practices could be found. The study showed a significantly increased risk to detect the same pathogens in the teat canal when they could be found on the teat skin as well.