Drying off of dairy cows without antibiotics

Abstract

Mastitis is a common mammary gland disease in cattle, frequently occurring on dairy farms throughout the lactating and dry, non-lactating, period. It is a condition caused by pathogens, like bacteria, entering into the cows´ udder and thereby causing an inflammation, intramammary infection (IMI) (LIC AutomationTM, 2021). It is important to decrease the milk production during the dry-off period, final milking at the end of lactation. A high milk yield at dry-off increases the risk for IMI, since the cows´ udders are still physiologically susceptible to many pathogens. One of the most common methods in use during the dry-off period, the drying-off of the dairy cows, is the gradual cessation of milking which results in the physiological involution of the udder.