Non-Antibiotic Dry Cow Therapy:
Using OrbeSeal in Practice
Martin J Green BVSc DCHP MRCVS
Orchard Veterinary Group
Glastonbury
Somerset
Introduction
It has been clearly established through a variety of research studies that
intramammary bacterial infections during the dry period have significant deleterious
effects on the health and production of dairy cows. Mammary glands infected during
the dry period produce less milk, produce milk of poor composition and are more
likely to get clinical mastitis in the next lactation. Cows with infected glands are also
more likely to be culled during the next lactation. Understanding the dynamics of
bacterial infections in the dry period is therefore important in milk quality and
mastitis control programmes.
Dry period infections either originate from infections carried into the dry
period or from new infections acquired during the dry period. These two possible
sources of infection have stimulated the concept of ‘differential’ or ‘cow level’
prescribing of dry cow therapy (Green et al., 2002, Bradley et al., 2002). This method
targets dry cow therapy so that it is prescribed for individual cows depending on
whether they are likely to harbour a bacterial infection at drying off, or whether they
are uninfected at drying off and at risk of a new infection during the dry period. A
working knowledge of the pathogens present on a unit allows an informed decision to
be made on the dry cow therapeutic products most suitable for each situation.
With the advent of teat sealants, a non-antibiotic approach to dry cow therapy
is now available. This presents an opportunity to prevent a broad spectrum of new
intramammary infections, and also to reduce the overall use of antibiotics within the
dairy sector.
The aim of this article is to describe initial experiences of one practice to
prescribing OrbeSeal. Results and comments are included from our first two herds to
use the product and who have now used it for a 12 month period.
Why consider OrbeSeal?
There were several reasons why we considered OrbeSeal as an alternative to
antibiotic dry cow therapy:
 Our experiences and those of our farmers who were involved in the initial
research study were positive.
 There is a clinical requirement for a product to prevent both E coli and
Streptococcus uberis infections throughout the entire dry period.
 It is likely that reducing widespread antibiotic use will be of benefit to the
dairy industry as a whole.
How did we market the product?
To raise awareness and stimulate interest in OrbeSeal, the following
approaches were taken:
 The product was described in a monthly newsletter with outline details of
when and how it could be used.
 A client meeting was organised on the subject of dry cow management and
the presentation included:
 Background to differential dry cow therapy as a part of total
dry cow management.
 Technical information - how and why OrbeSeal works.
 How to use the product on a commercial farm.
 Practical experiences of farmers who used the product in the
original research project were described.
Initially we decided to target the product towards our most technically-minded
herdsmen, because good recording and attention to detail is necessary to achieve good
results (see later). We also aimed to include farms with particular problems with new
dry period infections, identified with a high incidence of clinical cases in the first
month of lactation (see below).
We decided not to market the product too quickly at first so that we could
monitor use in relatively few herds. Furthermore, we continued to promote the dry
cow treatments as part of a total herd package ‘Managing the Dry Cow’. This ensured
that other health strategies were not overlooked, such as foot care, vaccinations,
paraciticides, nutrition and environmental management.
How did we recommend using OrbeSeal?
Being an internal teat sealant, OrbeSeal is used for preventing new dry period
infections in cows not infected with a major pathogen at drying off. It is not
appropriate for infected cows. To determine cows eligible for the teat sealant at drying
off, we recommended following data-sheet guidelines, with the addition of a
California Mastitis Test at drying off (Table 1). Occasionally these recommendations
were slightly modified (see farm examples later).
Table 1.
Criteria for selecting a cow for OrbeSeal at drying off
Last three monthly SCC recordings below 200,000 cells/ml
+
California Mastitis Test negative at the last milking of the
lactation
+
No clinical mastitis during the lactation just finished
We stressed to all herdsmen that a hygienic technique was absolutely essential when
infusing OrbeSeal, as with all dry cow therapy. We provide a standard operating
procedure for infusing dry cow products and this is shown in Table 2. In particular
we stressed:




Clean infusion technique essential (see Table 2).
Do not store tube inappropriately and especially do not place in water at any time.
Resist the temptation to use in higher SCC cows.
Resist the temptation to rush milk into tank (wait 4 days post calving).
Table 2. Administration of a dry cow intramammary tube / internal sealant
(based on Bradley and Green, 1998)
Remember to administer dry cow therapy carefully! Take your time. Do not carry out
the procedure during milking:
 administer after the last milking of a lactation – preferably after milking the other
cows to ensure plenty of time
 wear a new, clean pair of disposable gloves
 wash teats if dirty and dry using one paper towel per teat
 pre-dip (with proprietary pre-dip) and leave 30 seconds then dry
 thoroughly clean and disinfect the teats by scrubbing with cotton wool soaked in
spirit, leave to dry (start with teats furthest away)
 remove six stripping of milk from each quarter
 repeat scrubbing with cotton wool soaked in spirit and leave to dry
 administer the product with care, using partial insertion of the tube end
 dip teats in proprietary post dip
 record in medicines book
 mark cows once treated and remove from the herd
 keep treated cows standing in a loafing herd for 30 minutes with access to fresh
feed, to allow closure of the teat canal
Monitoring clinical mastitis and cell counts
Clearly, it is important to monitor the incidence and patterns of clinical
mastitis and SCC patterns in all herds, and this was of particular interest in herds
using OrbeSeal. Research suggests that clinical mastitis that occurs in the first month
of lactation commonly arises from infections from the dry period (Figure 1.)
Therefore clinical mastitis in early lactation is a useful indicator of the success of
preventing dry period infections. Somatic cell counts are monitored at herd (bulk
milk) and cow level.
Figure 1. Approximate proportion of clinical mastitis cases originating from the
dry period or from lactation (based on Green et al. 2002).
45%
40%
35%
From Dry Period
30%
% Herd 25%
Mastitis 20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Month of Lactation
Example: Two dairy herds who have used OrbeSeal for 12 months
Details of two dairy herds who have used OrbeSeal and their criteria for
selecting dry cow products are shown in Table 3. Herd 1 was the higher yielding and
also had an above average incidence of clinical mastitis. Herd 2 had a below average
incidence of clinical mastitis and both herds had bulk milk somatic cell counts that
remained comfortably below their target bonus band of 200,000 cells/ml. Herd 2 used
a SCC cut-off value of <150,000 cells/ml to select cows for OrbeSeal administration,
simply so that sufficient numbers of cows could be identified to make the purchase of
an antibiotic dry cow product practical.
Clinical mastitis incidence and somatic cell count data for both herds for the
year before and year after OrbeSeal are shown in Figures 2 to 5. A statistical
comparison between years would not be valid because many factors change over time.
However, management of both herds was similar over the two year period and a
description of clinical cases and somatic cell counts is provided to examine basic
patterns.
The monthly bulk milk somatic cell count for Herd 1 remained in range
130,000-185,000 cells/ml in both years and the incidence rate of clinical mastitis
decreased from 72 quarter cases to 47 quarter cases per 100 cows / year. The
incidence rate of clinical mastitis in Herd 2 remained similar in both years (28 and 29
cases per 100 cows / year), but the three monthly geometric mean monthly bulk milk
somatic cell counts increased by around 40,000 cells/ml.
Closer examination of the details in Figures 2 to 5 is worthwhile. Most of the
reduction in clinical mastitis in Herd 1 resulted from a reduction in the first month of
lactation, and this is consistent with a decrease in dry period infections. There was
little difference in the distributions of cow somatic cell counts between the years in
Herd 1: Seventy nine percent of all cow SCC were below 200,000 cells/ml during the
year before OrbeSeal and 85% of SCC were below 200,000 cells/ml the following
year.
The pattern of clinical mastitis in Herd 2 changed slightly between the two
years. There was a reduction in the first month of lactation and an increase in midlactation (which corresponded to a small summer outbreak of Strep uberis mastitis).
The increase in bulk milk somatic cell count in this herd was not associated with a
greater proportion of cows with an SCC > 200,000 cells/ml. The increase of around
40,000 cells/ml in bulk milk occurred mostly because of a small general increase in
SCC at all levels. However, the bulk milk SCC was not a cause for concern since it
remained at least 70,000 cells/ml below the threshold of the first penalty band.
Table 3. Some details of two dairy herds who have used OrbeSeal for a
one year period.
Herd Details
Herd Size
Annual yield
Calving pattern
Feeds used
Winter housing
Target herd SCC (top
bonus band)
Herd 1
Herd 2
150 cows
8000 litres
Calve all year
TMR all year: maize silage,
wholecrop wheat, grass silage.
Cubicles – sand bedding
Below 200,000 cells/ml
110 cows
6500 litres
Calve all year
Grass based system, with
25% maize silage in winter
Cubicles – chopped straw
Below 200,000 cells/ml
Cow selection criteria used for OrbeSeal
Cell counts
Last 3 cow SCC of lactation
below 200,000 cells/ml
Clinical mastitis
OrbeSeal not used in cows that
had clinical mastitis in the
lactation just finished
California mastitis
Used on most cows at drying
test
off, OrbeSeal only used if all
quarters negative
Product used for cows Long acting Cloxacillin
not receiving
(Orbenin Extra Dry Cow,
OrbeSeal
Pfizer Animal Health): S uberis
and S aureus most important
pathogens.
% cows in which
70% (30%)
OrbeSeal (and
antibiotic) was used
Last 3 cow SCC of lactation
below 150,000 cells/ml
OrbeSeal not used in cows
that had clinical mastitis in
the lactation just finished
Not used
Framycetin, Penethamate,
Procaine Penicillin (Leo
Red Dry Cow, Leo Animal
Health): E coli and S uberis
most important pathogens
90% (10%)
Figure 2. The incidence and pattern of clinical mastitis in Herd 1, in the 12
month period before (previous) and after (current) OrbeSeal was used as a part
of the dry cow treatment program. N represents the total incidence of clinical
mastitis in each year.
Previous 12 months
Current 12 Months
N = 72%
35
Quarter cases as % of Herd
30
25
N = 47%
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Month of Lactation
Figure 3. The incidence and pattern of clinical mastitis in Herd 2, in the 12
month period before (previous) and after (current) OrbeSeal was used as a part
of the dry cow treatment program. N represents the total incidence of clinical
mastitis in each year.
Previous 12 months
Current 12 Months
30
Quarter cases as % of Herd
25
20
N = 28%
15
N = 29%
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Month of Lactation
8
9
10
Figure 4. Proportion of cow SCC readings below 200,000 cells/ml in Herd
1 in the 12 month period before and after OrbeSeal was used as a part of the dry
cow treatment program.
79
All cows
85
96
Parity 1
96
Previous year
1 Year OrbeSeal
79
Parity 2-4
84
69
Parity 5+
80
Bulk tank remained 130 – 185,000/ml
Figure 5. Proportion of cow SCC readings below 200,000 cells/ml in Herd
1 in the 12 month period before and after OrbeSeal was used as a part of the dry
cow treatment program.
91
All cows
94
98
Parity 1
100
Previous year
1 Year OrbeSeal
91
Parity 2-4
Parity 5+
96
84
93
Bulk tank from 80-90,000 to 120-130,000/ml
Farmer comments
Herdsmen on both units were asked to summarise their own thoughts, having
used OrbeSeal for one year:
Farmer Comments - Herd 1:
 “no problems experienced at drying off”
 “great improvement in post-calving mastitis”
 “feel safe from antibiotic failures”
Farmer Comments - Herd 2:
 “no problems experienced at drying off”
 “no great difference in mastitis, higher herd SCC”
 “no worries if cows calve early”
 “feels good not to use blanket antibiotics”
 “some bits of seal appear in milk for many weeks after calving but give no
problems”
 “can be difficult to squeeze the seal in at drying off, especially when its cold!”
Both farms intend to continue to use OrbeSeal.
Problems encountered with OrbeSeal
Although these two herds experienced no problems when using OrbeSeal, two
other herds within the practice each had a case of clinical mastitis post infusion. In
both cases, herdsmen agreed that greater attention could have been paid to hygienic
administration. Although this situation can occur with antibiotic dry cow therapy, this
demonstrates the importance of an excellent infusion technique, and this is probably
even more critical with OrbeSeal than when infusing antibiotic dry cow treatments.
Conclusions:
Our experiences to date with OrbeSeal suggest it is a useful product, of value
in commercial herds to control new dry period infections. It will aid the industry to
move away from blanket antibiotic dry cow therapy but because of cow selection
criteria and the need for attention to detail during administration, herdsmen of good
technical ability will be most suited to using OrbeSeal. From a veterinary point of
view, differential dry cow therapy encourages active participation in dry cow
management as a part of a dairy herd health scheme, and that must be a good thing!.
References:
Bradley AJ, Huxley JN and Green MJ. (2002). A Rational Approach to Dry Cow
Therapy II - Making Logical Treatment Decisions. In Practice 25: 12-17.
Bradley A.J. and Green M.J. (1998 – present) Managing the Dry Cow. CPD Course
Notes. (For details of courses in 2004 please contact: taurus@farmline.com)
Green M. J., L. E. Green, G. F. Medley, Y. H. Schukken and A. J. Bradley (2002).
Influence of Dry Period Bacterial Intramammary Infection on Clinical Mastitis in
Dairy Cows. J. Dairy Sci. 85: 2589-2599.
Green MJ , Huxley JN and Bradley AJ. (2002). A Rational Approach to Dry Cow
Therapy I - Background and Current Perspectives. In Practice 24: 582-587.