Improving hygiene ahead of, around and after calving is one of the best ways UK dairy herds can cut their estimated 14% calf mortality as well as the even greater indirect costs of poor calf and cow health, according to a specialist BASF Smart Guide launched at this year’s Dairy Event & Livestock Show.

Written by Dr Brian Pocknee of The Dairy Group, the Sorgene 5 Best Practice Dairy Calving Hygiene guide focuses on overcoming the particular disease challenges faced by both cows and calves during the calving period when they are at their most vulnerable to infections.

With environmental contamination at this time primarily responsible for the spread of calf scours, whites (endometritis) and a range of other damaging infections, the guide identifies first class calving hygiene as the most important essential in minimising losses and sets out a range of best practice measures to ensure it.

These include:

Ahead of Calving

v  Ensuring all cows go into calving as clean and free from dirt as possible;

v  Providing sufficient draught-free, well-ventilated and well-bedded calving yards, pens or boxes to cater for the peak of calvings;

v  Cleaning, then spraying all calving areas thoroughly with a quality broad spectrum disinfectant ahead of the calving season;

Around Calving

v  Cleaning and disinfecting all equipment to be used before each calving;

v  Maintaining strict personal hygiene and doing everything possible to prevent external infections being carried into the calving area;

v  Removing afterbirths and any fresh dung immediately after each calving;

v  Clearing out all soiled bedding, together with cleansings and discharges, and disinfecting all pens ahead of re-use;

After Calving

v  Providing warm, well-ventilated and dry calf accommodation isolated from other livestock and sources of contamination;

v  Topping-up bedding regularly to keep the lying surface dry and dirt-free;;

v  Using clean and well-disinfected buckets and feeding equipment at all times;

v  Grouping freshly calved cows separately from the main herd, milking them first and prioritising first class parlour hygiene.

 “The pressures of managing larger and larger herds with fewer and fewer staff can make it difficult to put sufficient priority on the finer points of calving hygiene these days,” pointed out Brian Pocknee at the Show. “Especially where the calving season is particularly tight.

 “However, doing so with simple cow and calf management disciplines and a quality disinfectant can make all the difference in minimising major herd health losses and safeguarding animal welfare.”