Milverton-Wellesley Veterinary Services

Content copied from Whitepaper: Prevention & Care of the Udder Cleft In Dairy Cows with Intra Repiderma. Release date: October 12 2020 IntracareB.V., Veghel, The Netherlands

 

Udder cleft issues like udder cleft dermatitis or foul udder are often located between the front teats and at the transition of the front quarters and the abdominal wall. Although this condition is well known in the dairy industry, not much research has been performed. Udder cleft skin problems are mostly diagnosed during milking or hoof trimming and is more frequently seen in older cows regardless of stage of lactation. 

 

The consequences of udder skin issues are impaired animal welfare, reduced milk production and affected milk quality. Also, it can lead to premature culling. The number of udder skin issues on a farm is often underestimated. A high milk yield, digital dermatitis (DD), mange, mastitis and the conformation of the udder are suggested as risk factors. 

 

Current Prevention Options Are Limited 

Scientific research into treatment options for udder cleft problems in dairy cows is limited. Nevertheless, several scientific studies on the treatment of the bovine hoof and skin disorder DD have been published. Treatment with Intra Hoof-fit Gel, Intra Repiderma and Spray from Intracare has been proven successful several times, reporting a success rate of acute DD-lesions of 92.0, 86.8 and 79.0% (Holzhauer, 2011; Dotinga, 2017; Jacobs, 2018, respectively). As these products showed effectiveness on hoof and skin issues, they were considered to also have potential for the treatment of udder cleft skin issues, also taking into consideration that a spray is easy to use, even upside down.

 

Farm and Study Characteristics 

The study was carried out on a Dutch dairy farm with approximately 250 pure Holstein Frisian cows located in the south of The Netherlands. The study was performed from April to June 2020 and lasted 12 weeks. The cows were housed indoors in cubicles the whole year round. First- and second parity cows were housed separately from the older cows. The cubicles were covered with mattresses, lime powder and sawdust and cleaned out twice a day. Cows were milked twice a day in a conventional milking parlor. The average production level was 11,000 kg of milk/cow/year and the bulk milk somatic cell count varied between 95,000 and 162,000 cells/mL in the last 12 months. 

 

Classification 

The study was focused on score 0: a healthy udder and score 1: a mild udder cleft disease UCD-lesion with erythema, transudate, crust or scabs and intact skin. All lactating cows were The examination was performed in the milking parlor during milking, using a telescopic inspection mirror with lighting (Figure 1A). All data was collected by the same researcher (Jessie Hesseling, veterinarian in training at University of Utrecht) during the entire study period of 12 weeks, avoiding any inter-observer variation. The udder area was first carefully cleaned and dried with a towel, then covered with Intra Repiderma (Figure 1B). New cases found during the study period were included in the protocol as described above.