Mastitis issues from new milker

[Matt23]

Hi, has anyone noticed issues with mastitis when they introduce a new milker to the farm?
I’ve got a relief milker who started 3 months ago who does two mornings a week and ever since we’ve had a big rise in mastitis cases, usually occurring 1-3 days after the relief milkers been. I’ve watched him milking and can’t really pinpoint where the issues being caused, we strip and dry wipe every cow before milking, clusters are taken off with acr and all teats are thoroughly sprayed with an iodine spray after milking.
My only other thought is that during stripping out the milkers possibly touching teat ends more than I do and this is introducing bacteria into the udder.
I know this is an impossible question for anyone to answer but if anyone has had similar experiences in the past and knows of a potential solution I’m all ears!
Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[In the pit]

I think your putting 2+2 together and getting 5

 

[Matt23]

Maybe you’re right but after 3 months of the consistent trend I’m not so sure.

 

[Will Blackburn]

You’d be right, less prep the better for us.

 

[In the pit]

I’ve conductivity on my parlour which picks up mastitis 3/4 days before I see it in the udder
Is it possible something has altered on the parlour or a bug got in

 

[In the pit]

He’s touching the teat ends more than you do pre milking so any bugs will be flushed away during the milking process and then a good dose of iodine should kill and bugs left

 

[dairydurham]

I’ve conductivity on my parlour which picks up mastitis 3/4 days before I see it in the udder
Is it possible something has altered on the parlour or a bug got in

We found conductivity useless as an aid to pick up on mastitus as in a parlour it averages the result with all four quarters mixing together

 

[FarmerWasty]

i find this protocol works best if you think its parlour hygeine. DIP. STRIP. WIPE. MILK. POST DIP. IODINE SPRAY CLUSTER.

 

[frederick]

Have come across use of the washdown hose differently by a milker and splashing teat ends after cups have been removed and teat end still open instead of waiting until cows have left.

 

[In the pit]

We found conductivity useless as an aid to pick up on mastitus as in a parlour it averages the result with all four quarters mixing together

Finds the cow then strip out to find quarter
Each cow has its own Conductivity level on all four quarters and a jump points to that cow having mastitis

 

[betweenthelines]

My guess would be that the relief milker is introducing a different bacterial load that the cows immune system is taking time to deal with. I'm certainly not saving he has poor hygiene stands just that the bacteria he carries are different. Nobody is bacteria free.

Every contact with the teat/teat end adds to the bacteria load. people need to think about whether adding to the bacteria load them sloshing loads of disinfectant about is the right thing to do.

 

[coomoo]

2 milking’s a week and he’s to blame

 

[DairyNerd]

The '1 to 3 days after' is a non-starter, if he milks two mornings that is basically the whole week covered. If you are happy with how they work, they takes the right amount of time and leaves everything clean I would say it is likely coincidence.

 

[farmer JD]

How’s he applying the units on ? Is he fast moving the cows around quick could be the cows stressed up ? I have known people put units on with not aligning the Teat straight into the liner properly where you get a Teat, kink (bent over ) twisted , usually far front teats as we milk from behind , one other thing is he stripping them when your not looking or not there ? As that will cause mastitis as your cows are used too being stripped

 

[Matt23]

He milks on a Friday and Saturday morning and 90% of mastitis cases are spotted by me between Saturday evening to Monday evening and then theres usually no new cases the rest of the week til the Saturday again.
It was the relief milker that said to me in the first place that he felt like he was causing the mastitis issues, I’ve told him it’s coincidence as I don’t want to discourage the lad as he’s a brilliant worker and they’re hard to come by but him saying it did plant the thought in my head.
We try to avoid using the volume hose unless all units are on to avoid splashing teat ends, I trust him to be stripping the teats when I’m not there and he takes slightly longer to milk than me which assures me he’s doing everything thoroughly.
Thanks for all your replies and ideas and we’ll try and figure out a way to solve the problem.

 

[kiwi pom]

He milks on a Friday and Saturday morning and 90% of mastitis cases are spotted by me between Saturday evening to Monday evening and then theres usually no new cases the rest of the week til the Saturday again.
It was the relief milker that said to me in the first place that he felt like he was causing the mastitis issues, I’ve told him it’s coincidence as I don’t want to discourage the lad as he’s a brilliant worker and they’re hard to come by but him saying it did plant the thought in my head.
We try to avoid using the volume hose unless all units are on to avoid splashing teat ends, I trust him to be stripping the teats when I’m not there and he takes slightly longer to milk than me which assures me he’s doing everything thoroughly.
Thanks for all your replies and ideas and we’ll try and figure out a way to solve the problem.

Surely this would be an easy hypothesis to test. Just change the days he milks for a while or have him take a month off.

 

[Old apprentice]

Do you and others wear gloves to milk? If not the mastitis bugs live on your hands. There was some work done on this and they tested people's hands after they had washed there hands and after breakfast and swabs were taken and the bacteria that causes mastitis could still be found.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

Gloves were my immediate thought too. Also, the order of cluster application. Is there more slurry where the cows stand due to a change in personel? ... i.e. cows sh!t when someone new is there. Does he hurry them out where you don't (causing splashing)? Does he cup up in the same order? Are cows properly milked?

re fields: Are they on a close break to make it easier for weekend milking?

So much to think about.

 

[In the pit]

Have you done a mastitis culture?
If so what is the bug you’re dealing with??

 

[Sandpit Farm]

Have you done a mastitis culture?
If so what is the bug you’re dealing with??

I would wager 90% chance of it being environmental and 70% chance Strep. uberis.

Another point worth thinking about is stage of lactation of those cows. Are they within 30 days of calving? If so, could be dry cow derived and therefore nothing to do with milking.