Sustainable Use of Antibiotics at Dry-off in Dairy Cows
Keywords:
milk indicator dynamics, breed, milk recording, subclinical mastitis, linear somatic cell count scoreAbstract
The development work includes a procedure for selecting dairy cows for ATB/noATB (ATB = antibiotic(s)) dry-off treatment based on the dynamics of somatic cell count (SCC). This can reduce the use of ATB in mastitis prophylaxis. Milk secretion disorders are consistently one of the main sources of losses in milk production and quality and the use of ATB to treat dairy cows. The increased use of ATB generally results in an increase in the risk of bacterial pathogens developing resistance to these ATB. Suitable dairy cows are selected for noATB dry-off based on favorable SCC development. In total, 29.1 (Holstein (H)), 14.8 (H), 21.0 (Czech Fleckvieh (CF)) and 14.4 (CF) % of cows were proposed for dry-off without ATB and 70.9 (H), 85.2 (H), 79.0 (CF) and 85.6 (CF) % with ATB in 4 randomly selected herds of cows. This is in total 19.8 ± 6.9% (vx 34.8%) noATB and 80.2 ± 6.9% (vx 8.6%) ATB. This proportion 80.2 ± 6.9% appears, from the perspective of the objective of procedure validation, to be higher than would be necessary. This indicates the need for a more moderate correction of the selection criteria. The methodology is innovative as it presents known facts in new contexts. The methodology represents an advantageous connection of an older husbandry measure, which is milk recording, with the health and quality management of the dairy herd. This can increase the efficiency of dairy farming and the safety of the milk food chain.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Oto Hanuš, Josef Kučera, Hana Nejeschlebová, David Lipovský, Radoslava Jedelská, Martina Tišnovská, Irena Němečková, Marcela Klimešová
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