Milk Quality Services for Dairy Cattle
Working together for better milk quality results
Everyone has different goals when it comes to milk. Are you trying to maximize production with supplement feeding? Or do you take pride in keeping your cell count below 100,000? Perhaps you are just tired of culling cows for ongoing mastitis every year.
Anexa veterinarians are trained to work with you in the areas that you want to improve on your farm. This can range from mastitis levels and SCC (including urgent response to SCC grades) to production and milking machine concerns. Anexa Vet Services also have accredited milk quality advisers within the Anexa business who can either work with you or with your local Anexa vet for in-depth analysis of your farm.
Even if you are currently satisfied with your milk production and udder health, we are here to help with tips and to answer questions about how to maintain or improve your current performance levels. Milk quality is a complex topic, we’re here to work with you. Anexa offers a full range of milk quality services and support.
Anexa Milk Quality Services
Milk sampling and culturing
Our in-house lab services, based in our Morrinsville clinic, are second to none with highly trained lab technicians working hard behind the scenes to get your results to you quickly. We can test milk samples for culture and antibiotic sensitivity as well somatic cell count (SCC) and inhibitory substances on individual or bulk tank samples. Anexa also offers technician services for collecting sterile milk samples on farm.
Herd Dry cow, teatsealant advice and tech services
Our vets are here to support you around dry off time and to offer the right advice for your herd leading up to and at dry off. We can generate tailored dry off lists incorporating individual cow SCC, expected calving date, age and BCS to make it easy to know when to dry off each cow to optimise their dry period. We also have highly trained technician teams who can administer treatments for you.
Teatsealing heifers
Our highly trained technicians provide a gold-standard service focused on hygiene, human and heifer safety, and job efficiency. We also have a specialised teatsealing trailer that is perfect where facilities are limited or unsuitable for heifers: all that is required is appropriate yards.
Teat condition assessment and milk management
Our accredited milk quality vets are trained to assess the milking process and carry out mastitis investigations to help you identify possible areas for improvement. A pair of independent eyes may be all you need to identify areas to work on. A milking visit examines all areas of the milking process, including assessing teat health and condition which can have a major influence on mastitis rates.
Teat spray products and delivery
Our technical sales representatives (TSRs) alongside vets can help you find the right teat spray for your farm. We stock reputable teat spray products that can be ordered through the vets or TSRs with delivery to your farm.
Healthy Udder staff training
Anexa offers DairyNZ Healthy Udder training to farm staff teams. Our healthy udder vets work with the herd owner to create and improve systems related to the milking process and mastitis with a key focus to ensure all farm staff are up to speed.
Herd test support and interpretation
Our vets can help to interpret your herd test results. This may include helping identify cows with chronic infections, creating a dry cow therapy list or culling list. We can also order testing for Staph aureus, Johne’s disease and BVD testing at LIC herd testing for you.
Accredited milk quality advisers for Fonterra's demerit relief
We have several accredited milk quality advisers at Anexa, with more vets undergoing accreditation to recognise their expertise in this area. Our accredited vets can assist with Fonterra- or farmer-initiated grade busting or milking management visits. If demerit relief is required, we can help you.
Milk quality (dry cow) consult
Dry cow consults or Milk Quality Consults as we call them at Anexa are not only about dry off, they’re also about the whole milk quality picture on your farm. We want to use this opportunity to discuss everything milk quality and to support you in this area.
Milk quality information sheets and how-to guides
It’s often not only what you do, but also how you do it that’s important, that’s why it’s always a good idea to have a guide handy. Check out our info sheets below and ensure you are taking the best approach.
‘How to’ guides:
How to collect a milk sample.pdf
How to Rapid Mastitis Test.pdf
How to prepare cotton balls in meths solution for cleaning teat ends.pdf
How to administer dry cow therapy.pdf
Information sheets
Hand hygiene why does it matter?.pdf
Teat Sealant Aftercare for Heifers.pdf
Dry Cow Therapy.pdf
Appropriate use of Anti-Inflammatories in Mastitis Cases.pdf
Podcasts
Getting the most out of your milk quality consult
Videos
Drying off cows - step by step guide
Check out the latest advice from our vet team
Teat sealing heifers – 5 tips to get the best bang for buck
Soon, your heifers will be lining up to be teat sealed. This will give them the best start entering the milking herd by helping prevent spring mastitis. (Studies show it reduces clinical mastitis by 50% in early lactation and reduces subclinical mastitis by 65% at...
Recycle your Teatseal® tubes
At Anexa, we are focused on doing the right thing by our people and the environment. We encourage all our clients using Teatseal® to take part in Zoetis’s Teatseal® tube recycling programme. Last year, across New Zealand 12,744kgs of Teatseal® tubes were collected and...
In One Ear & Out The Udder Podcast: Training heifers through the cowshed for teat sealing and beyond
Emma and Kelly share advice about the best way to train your heifers through the cow shed before teatsealing.