Less udder engorgement with Cedrick’s new dry-off protocol

Cedrick Lavenant, based in La Chapelle Neuve in the Côtes d’Armor region, manages a herd of 50 dairy cows with an annual production of 450,000 liters.

He started out using AHV products because he already knew Vincent, his AHV advisor: “When you know the person, trust is very important.” Added to this was his interest in the simplicity of the AHV protocols, as well as the fact that no milk had to be discarded.

He has now been working with AHV solutions for three years, mainly in the area of udder health. It was only natural that he decided to try the latest AHV innovation: StopLac Tablet.

A start with udder health

“I started trying AHV protocols on udder problems at the beginning because I trusted Vincent, and it worked, so I continued doing it.”

Today, all minor udder problems are managed with AHV solutions. This means he doesn’t have to discard milk.

An extension of the program with the addition of StopLac to dry off his dairy cows

Cédrick has been using StopLac Tablet for seven months now and has already been able to try it on about fifteen cows. “The effect is very noticeable in terms of udder engorgement; it dries the cows’ quarters in 48 hours.”

Previously, his dry-off protocol was to administer antibiotics to all cows, except those with very healthy cell counts, which received nothing.

Today, with StopLac Tablet, he administers only StopLac Tablet to healthy cows. Those with a complicated cell count history or who have had udder problems during lactation are dried off with antibiotics only.

This allows him to compare the effect of the product between the group of cows receiving StopLac Tablet and those receiving antibiotics alone. The difference is significant in terms of udder engorgement.

A simpler dry-off protocol thanks to boluses

“The fact that it comes in bolus form makes it very easy to administer.” The protocol involves administering four boluses within two hours of the last milking.

“Lactation starts well.” The other advantage highlighted by Cédrick is peace of mind: “If I happen to get the dry-off date wrong for a cow and calving is imminent, it’s not a problem for the tank, unlike when using a long-acting antibiotic.”