Effect of Two Bedding Systems on Udder Health Management of Dairy Cows

Abstract

Managing and maintaining of healthy udder of the dairy cows has a significant impact on farm economy. In intensive cattle farming, cows spend between 50% -65% of their time lying down. Bacteria in lying surface can be transferred to the teats. This increases the risk of contamination of the mammary glands via teat channels, once after every milking. Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of two bedding systems on udder health management Twelve lactating cows, in same breed, age and parity were selected for the study. Selected animals had neither shown any sign of mastitis nor treated with any antibiotic. Chosen animals were separated into two sheds. One group was given dried softwood sawdust as the bedding material and the other group was on the rubber carpet Samples of fore-milk and teat-milk were collected once a week up to five weeks. There has been a significant reduction in Coliform counts in sawdust system (567.54±5.06 colony forming units (cfo)/mi) compared with carpeted system (2523.5±3.16 cfu/ml). Total Bacterial Counts (TBC) significantly reduced in sawdust system (16865.5±2.40cfu/ml) than the carpeted system (39627.9±2.8380cfu/ml). TBC levels of fore-milk were not significantly different in both systems, TBC values were 58344.5±3.32cfu/ml for sawdust and 85506.6±2.80cfu/ml for carpet system, respectively. In conclusion, dry sawdust bedding surfaces helped to keep the dairy cows getting less microbial contaminations compared to the carpeted system.