Status der Eutergesundheit in Milchviehherden auf der Basis von Daten der Milchleistungsprüfung in Niedersachsen

Summary

The monthly individual somatic cell count can be used to interpret udder health status not only for individual animals but also on dairy herd level. 73 dairy herds in Lower Saxony were analyzed based on 2011 milk recording data. The data show that udder health status is driven by very high new infection rates in both dry period and lactation in organic dairy farms. Due to legislative rules antibiotic therapy plays only a small role in combating mastitis. Therefore working standards which are able to reduce the new infection rate must be implemented in dairy herds. The used analyzing system allows the identification of predominant udder health problems on single herd level. Consultants, vets and farmers should be familiar with these epidemiological key figures to understand infection dynamics on herd level.