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Dry Cow Therapy: Best Practices and Common Errors

The dry period is a high-risk and high-opportunity time for the udder. Good dry-off technique and a plan built with your vet protect cows through the dry period and into the next lactation.

Why the dry period matters for udders

A dry period commonly lasts around two months. During early involution and again near calving, the udder is more open to new infections. Infections that start then often show up as clinical mastitis in fresh cows.

Dry cow therapy is a management plan, set by your vet, that is used at dry-off to protect the udder. Decisions on what, when and for which cows belong to your veterinarian, and this guide does not cover products or doses.

Many herds also reach a point where the best fix for a chronic problem cow is a culling decision rather than another round of care. Talk with your vet about that choice before the dry period, not after calving.

Planning dry-off with your vet

Work with your vet to build a written dry-off protocol. It should say which cows get which approach, how records will be used and how to handle cows with a history of mastitis. Review it at least once a year.

Use records, such as recent cell counts, clinical cases and culture results, to guide who needs what. Plans differ between herds, and certification programs and milk buyers may have their own rules.

Clean technique at dry-off

Whatever your vet's plan, hygiene at dry-off is where many errors happen. Introducing bacteria through the teat end can cause the very infection you are trying to prevent.

Work in a clean place with good light. Milk out the cow, dip, and clean each teat end thoroughly, scrubbing with the approved sanitizer and letting it dry. Handle teat ends in the order your vet recommends, farthest first. Use only clean gloves and dip afterwards.

Ask your vet whether anyone on the crew needs hands-on training before they perform dry-off tasks. Learning the right way to handle a teat end in person beats reading instructions at the parlor.

• Clean, dry, well-lit work area
• Fresh gloves and clean hands
• Scrub and sanitize each teat end
• Do not touch the teat end after cleaning
• Dip the teats at the end
• Mark each cow in your records right away

Housing and care after dry-off

Even good therapy fails in dirty housing. Cows should go to a clean, dry, comfortable pen with enough space. Check udders daily for a few days, then regularly through the dry period, looking for swelling, heat or hard quarters.

Keep the close-up pen clean as well, since new infections often happen just before calving.

Cows in the close-up group should be checked regularly for dripping milk or a tight, shiny udder, since leaking teats are an easy path for bacteria and need your vet's advice.

Common errors

Frequent errors include skipping thorough teat-end cleaning, treating cows in muddy lots, mixing up cow records, and moving cows into dirty pens straight after dry-off.

A second group of errors is about decisions: using one approach for every cow without looking at the herd's data, or copying another farm's plan.

• Rushing the scrub when milkers are busy
• Reusing gloves or touching teat ends after cleaning
• Poor record keeping on who got what
• Ignoring heifers and late dry cows
• Never reviewing results

Records and withdrawal times

Record the date, cow number, who did the procedure and the product the vet specified, then review fresh cow mastitis and early lactation cell counts. Those results tell you whether the plan works.

Treated-animal milk and meat withdrawal times on the label or set by your vet must be followed exactly, including for cows that calve early or are sold. Your records protect you on this.

More in Herd Health & Disease Management

• Selective Dry Cow Therapy: A Practical Guide
• Vaccination Schedules for Dairy Herds
• BVDV Control in Dairy Herds
• Johne’s Disease: Testing, Culling, and Biosecurity
• Salmonella Control on Dairy Farms
• E. coli Mastitis: Emergency Response Checklist