Monday, January 14, 2013

Keeping feeding equipment clean

Yet another calf scours case today. All equipment for mixing and feeding milk replacer has a visible biofilm. Nearly all the calves are receiving some kind of treatment for diarrhea by the time they are 7 to 10 days old.

No rinsing of equipment before going into the  lukewarm wash water. Only household dishwash detergent used to wash with no brushing - only a sponge used to wipe easily accessible surfaces. Bottles and tube feeder left in sink to dry; washed buckets stacked inside each other.

If the deficiencies in the cleaning procedures do not jump out at you in the description above try reviewing these resources:

Equipment cleaning checklist - an explanation of the rinse:wash:rinse:dry procedure
Equipment cleaning protocol - English    a one-page protocol that can be laminated and posted at a cleaning station (i.e., sink in utility room).
Equipment cleaning protocol - Spanish   same protocol as above in Spanish
Equipment cleaning protocol - French     same protocol as above in French

P.S. Yes, I did recommend culturing samples of "as-fed" colostrum, "as-fed" milk replacer and taking blood samples from calves 1-7 days old for blood serum total protein testing.

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