What problems did they have?
The animals at Fattorie Fanetti came from different farms and this resulted in certain health problems, the most serious of which was mastitis caused by Staphylococcus.
Staphylococcus mastitis can be a very serious problem on any sheep dairy farm.
Staphylococcus can cause both clinical and subclinical mastitis in sheep. Clinical cases represent a serious problem, as they are usually acute or hyperacute and it is often not possible to save the animal.
But in both sheep and goats, the majority of cases are subclinical, and as a result we see an increase in somatic cells (SCC). Although it is often a “silent” problem, it causes huge losses on the farm, as the higher the SCC, the lower the milk production.
How was the problem solved?
At Fattorie Zanetti they decided to focus on preventive measures in order to be able to control and solve the problem of mastitis.
With good management and a good vaccination programme, they were able to drastically reduce the SCC.
These measures included the implementation of a vaccination programme and they started to vaccinate with VIMCO 4 years ago. With vaccination with VIMCO, together with good management, they were able to almost completely eliminate clinical mastitis and reduce the SCC by 70%.
With these good results, we can say that VIMCO provides a very satisfactory return on investment.
Some good advice to finish with…
What do we have to do to combat mastitis in sheep? How can we achieve the best results?
Marco Zanetti gives us a final piece of advice for all farms, which is key to combatting mastitis:
Use a specialist veterinarian who will help you to implement the best vaccination programme.
Article written by:
Tania Perálvarez Puerta. Product Manager Small Ruminants Unit – HIPRA
