Mill Creek Veterinary Service

Milk cultures are an essential component to managing mastitis at many dairies. Collecting clean samples is essential for this tool to be beneficial. On this month's Mill Creek Minute, our milk quality lab manager, Tana Jo, explains the importance of taking clean samples and how to do so.

What is the trace mineral status of your herd and why is it important? Trace minerals consist of inorganic elements that exist in small concentrations in an animal’s tissues. These key minerals are essential in the diet and have important functions in growth and development, physiologic function, and production. Deficiencies or toxicities in any of these minerals can have serious consequences for individual animals as well as your herd. The minerals we focus on due to frequen...cy in disturbances include cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc. Your veterinarian can help you determine the mineral status of your herd through blood and liver biopsy samples. This information can provide your nutritionist valuable information on dietary supplementation to ensure your animals' health and productivity. https://www.sciencedirect.com///abs/pii/S0749072011000065

Finances tend to be a sore subject, even for those who don’t run a dairy. But when decisions made today have a significant impact on our future, the conversation is something that can’t be avoided. Dr. Daniel Davidson discusses how longterm choices can help you endure next year’s hardship in this month’s Mill Creek Minute. See below for details!

In this month's Mill Creek Minute, Dr. Webb highlights the benefits of having a fistulated cow for transfaunation. Providing healthy rumen fluid to cows suffering from GI disorders like indigestion, rumen atony, rumen acidosis, or left-displaced abomasum has been shown to improve health outcomes and performance in these animals.

What the teat is that? Teat-end condition and udder cleanliness are important risk factors in your cows developing mastitis. In the study below, higher teat-end scores increased the chance of intramammary infection by 30% and higher udder hygiene scores increased the chance by 47%. Parlor equipment that is not working properly or efficiently can have negative consequences for your herd's udder health. As part of our milk parlor evaluation, we aim to objectively measure how well a dairy’s parlor equipment, routine, and environment accomplish the milking process. https://www.sciencedirect.com//artic/pii/S0034528811001846

Good morning everyone! Today we're going to talk a little bit about calf care, an area that can have far reaching consequences. Early life dietary regimes will influence the lifetime productivity of your herd. For example, it has been shown that 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of pre-weaning average daily gain (ADG) leads to 1540 kgs (3388 lbs) of milk produced in the first lactation . This is no time to cut corners, and MCVS can help you maximize the productivity of your herd by ensuring a healthy and productive calf crop. Dr. Brandon Colby has some valuable insights on how to "Improve Your Calves Now!" in this month's Mill Creek Minute.