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Factors affecting Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) |
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Written by Leon
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Sunday, 27 August 2006 |
- Mastitis
Mastitis is the most important factor affecting the SCC of an individual cow. General agreement values: less than 100,000 cells/ml for uninfected cows and greater than 300,000 for cows infected with significant pathogens - Teat or udder injury
- Mastitis
Mastitis is the most important factor affecting the SCC of an individual cow. General agreement values: less than 100,000 cells/ml for uninfected cows and greater than 300,000 for cows infected with significant pathogens - Teat or udder injury
SSC consist primarily of leukocytes (white blood cells) that are present in the udder in response to infection and to repair damaged tissue - Age
Higher SCC has been found in the milk of older cows. This is primarily due to an increased prevalence of mastitis in older cows - Stage of lactation
SCC are elevated immediately after calving and remain elevated for up to two weeks. The counts of cows late in lactation are higher than the average throughout lactation, but this is due to an increased prevalence of sub clinical infections in late lactation. Some cows will exhibit an increase in cell count at the end of lactation without having mastitis, but only before drying off or after milk production has dropped below 4kg/day. - Season
Counts are lowest in winter and highest in summer, this is largely due to housing and temperature’s affects on infection. - Stress
Changes e.g. isolation, mixing groups or being chased by a dog can increase SCC. - Day to day variation
There can be considerable differences in SCC from individual cows from day to day. - Technical factors
The methods of transport, storage and electronic counting can all have an influence on the result values. These are minor differences and are unimportant. - Management factors
Mastitis control procedures such as teat dipping post and pre milking) milking machine maintenance and using of single service paper towel are all useful in reducing SCC. - Milking procedure
To insure complete udder evacuation, it is essential to perform careful pre-milking udder preparation. The shorter the udder preparation time for milking, the higher the SCC.
It is essential to attach milking unit to a cow promptly. The longer the delay, the shorter will be milking time with milk ejection. This also has an impact on SCC.
As soon as the milk flow has finished, the milking unit must be removed to prevent over milking. This is one of the most considerable factors causing mastitis and increasing SCC.
The more time a milking operator spent on machine stripping, the higher the SCC. Vacuum damages the gland tissue of the udder quarters which are over milked.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 August 2006 )
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