Post Milking Teat Dip Effect on Somatic Cell Count, Milk Production and Composition in Cows and Buffaloes

The effect of post milking teat dipping on somatic cell count (SCC) of milk was determined in 20 Crossbred cows and 20 Murrah buffaloes selected from institute’s herd. The animals were divided into two groups of 10 each. Animals of Group I (control) were teat washed with water before the milking while Group II animals were applied teat dipping solution after the completion of milking. The cows were milked 3 times a day while buffaloes were milked twice a day. The milk samples were collected from control and treated animals on day 0, 5, 10, 15, respectively. The milk samples were analyzed for milk constituents like fat, protein, lactose, chloride, IgG, NEFA, pH and EC and total and differential somatic cell counts. The changes in milk composition and somatic cell counts were significantly different (p<0.01) between the animals and between the breeds. However SCC, chloride content (p<0.05) and epithelial cells (p<0.01) varied during different days of study. The alterations in SCC, epithelial cells, TLC, lymphocyte, neutrophil, IgG, and protein content were significantly different (p<0.01) between control and treated groups. The pH, EC, protein, SCC, epithelial cells, lymphocyte and neutrophil cells of milk declined significantly (p<0.05) after the application of teat dipping, the respective values were 6.5 vs 6.40, 2.28 vs 2.37 mhos, 3.33 vs 4.04%, 1.00 vs 0.87×10 cells/ml, 0.39 vs 0.34×10 cells/ml, 0.36 vs 0.31×1,000 cells/ml and 0.17 vs 0.14×1,000 cells/ml in cows. However in buffaloes, epithelial cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, EC and SCC declined (p<0.05) after application of teat dipping, the values being 0.37 vs 0.29×10 cells/ml, 0.37 vs 0.25×1,000 cells/ml, 0.14 vs 0.11×1,000 cells/ml, 2.56 vs 2.37 mhos and 0.94 vs 0.73×10 cells/ml, respectively. The study indicated that post milking teat dipping could be used as an effective method for the lowering of SCC in milk of crossbred cows and buffaloes. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2002. Vol 15, No. 10 : 1517-1522)