Evaluation of the use of dry cow antibiotics in low somatic cell count cows.
- Scherpenzeel, CG
- den Uijl, IE
- van Schaik, G
- Olde Riekerink, RG
- Keurentjes, JM
- Lam, TJ
DOIAbstract
The goal of dry cow therapy (DCT) is to reduce the prevalence of intramammary infections (IMI) by eliminating existing IMI at drying off and preventing new IMI from occurring during the dry period. Due to public health concerns, however, preventive use of antibiotics has become questionable. This study evaluated selective DCT in 1,657 cows with low somatic cell count (SCC) at the last milk recording before drying off in 97 Dutch dairy herds. Low SCC was defined as <150,000 cells/mL for primiparous and <250,000 cells/mL for multiparous cows. A split-udder design was used in which 2 quarters of each cow were treated with dry cow antibiotics and the other 2 quarters remained as untreated controls. The effect of DCT on clinical mastitis (CM), b...
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