Now that the weather is turning colder and the winter is coming, some farms will have already brought back the cattle indoors – others will do it soon. But before bringing back cattle indoors, it is essential to take pro-active precautions to minimise the impact of infection and disease and to ensure that the animals remain healthy during the next few months.
Why is preparation so important?
The first reason to prepare thoroughly is that this is your last chance to comprehensively clean for several months. Once the herd has been brought inside, you will have significantly less access to your sheds and will not be able to conduct the kind of thorough clean that you can while they are empty. Using Kersia’s broad spectrum disinfectants can give your biosecurity a significant head-start on winter disease prevention and containment.
Secondly, it is important to understand any significant change of environment, can lead to stress for the dairy cows, which in turn lowers their natural immunity and increases the risk of disease. When you are facing increased risks, it is vital that you increase your vigilance and tighten your biosecurity to match.
What preparation is recommended?
Kersia offers a wide range of detergents and disinfectants to support your winter deep clean of sheds and other animal housing ahead of moving animals inside. Tried and trusted brands such as Ultrafoam, EcoFoam Advanced, Hypred Force 7, Virophor 2.8, Agakok 2.5, Cyclex and VIREX can help you to create a clinically clean and hygienic environment for your herd, while products such as ENVIREX + Bedding Powder can help to maintain your biosecurity and reduce infection risks.
One of the major risks in stressed cattle is an increase in digital dermatitis, which can lead to lameness and other issues. So, it is important to ensure that all animals are put through a carefully planned foot-bathing regimen prior to moving them indoors. Podofeet Max and Farmalin Intense from Kersia are ideal for pro-active foot-bathing.
It is at stake at the time of milking. Microbial pressure can change during this period and lead to deterioration in milk quality results.
Kersia experts can guide you on the adaptation of your milking hygiene method to upgrade your level of protection of your herd. Different solutions exist depending on the risks of your farm and the recent milk quality results. Chlorine dioxide, Iodine, LSA are example of the solution that Kersia can provide to you in a complete hygiene method pre-milking, during milking and post-milking to ensure the level of performance that you wish.
Good Biosecurity is of course Ongoing Biosecurity
With four or five months of housing your herd indoors ahead of you, and little opportunity to conduct the depth of cleaning you would like to, it is vital to ensure that your biosecurity protocols are as tight as possible on a weekly or daily basis and are understood by every member of your team. As worldwide experts on farming and food hygiene, Kersia are here to support you in this in whatever way you need, from simple advice on product selection, to a full review of your biosecurity systems. Talk to our team for information on our leading biosecurity solutions and tap into our unrivalled experience and expertise. We can arrange a farm visit to assess your current systems and recommend ways to enhance and improve your biosecurity to minimise the risks from disease during the winter months.
It’s a long time until you open the doors and let your cattle back out into the fields, so make sure you’ve cleaned your sheds, prepared your animals and planned your biosecurity at each level (building, milking, locomotion…), to get you through to the spring with a healthy herd.
If you have any questions, please contact your local expert or use the contact form.
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