Protecting Teat Skin Through Winter’s Challenges

Winter brings unique challenges to maintaining teat skin health. The combination of cold temperatures, fluctuating humidity levels, and environmental changes in a cow’s living conditions can create issues. Proper preparation and a plan for addressing skin health are essential. 

Teat skin issues often resemble the chapped lips we experience during winter. Cracked lesions may appear on the barrel of the teat, running horizontally or vertically, often without an obvious cause. Like lip balm helps us prevent and treat chapped lips, teat dips can help heal and maintain teat skin health. 

Similarities to Lip Care 

In winter, humans are more prone to chapped lips due to cold air and humidity changes. Preventative use of lip balm can help. If you investigate the ingredients in a stick of lip balm, you’ll find many focus on adding and retaining moisture—similar to the ingredients in teat dips designed for healing and maintaining teat skin. 

Common Misconceptions 

When teat skin issues like cracks appear, dairies often suspect pre/post dips, milking equipment, or teat scrubbers as the culprits. However, it’s essential to consider underlying causes. Here are key points to keep in mind: 

• Post Dips: These are not only germicides but also serve to heal and maintain skin health. While post dips may seem to set the bar for skin health, deeper issues often underlie any problems. 

• Pre Dips and Teat Scrubbers: These are designed for quick contact and germ-kill within the prep lag time before attaching the milking unit. If used per manufacturer recommendations, they’re unlikely to harm skin health.  For example, with FutureCow’s chlorine dioxide, maintaining a ppm between 800–1,200 and a pH between 2.0–3.0 ensures effective and safe performance. 

• Barn Conditions: Cows in barns using recycled sand or biosolids for bedding are more prone to chapped skin during winter. Bedding moisture content and humidity fluctuations are key factors—similar to how our lips become chapped in changing conditions. 

Teat End Health 

Teat end health is often misunderstood. Pre-dip products don’t dictate teat end health scores—prep routines do. If rough or very rough teat ends are becoming common, consider these factors: 

• Stimulation During Prep: Contact time during prep affects let-down and comfort. FutureCow’s teat scrubbers improve teat end health by increasing contact time, resulting in better let-downs and more comfortable cows. 

• Prep Lag Time (Oxytocin Release): Ensure 90–120 seconds from first contact to milking unit attachment. 

• Milk Flow: Aim for 50% of milk flow within the first two minutes of unit attachment. 

• Teat End Vacuum Levels: Optimize vacuum levels for your milking system. Lower levels, adjusted with your equipment dealer’s help, are typically better for cows. 

• Minimize Liner Slippage: Review wet settings and strip yields to avoid over-milking. Adjust unit on-time settings and take-off delays as needed. 

Post Dip as a Skin Care Tool 

Post dips can also address hyperkeratosis (teat end health issues). They exfoliate and remove excess skin, improving teat condition over one to two weeks. Work with your dealer to find the best product for your herd. 

Industry Standards for Teat End Health 

The most successful dairies maintain less than 5% of cows scoring 3 or 4 (on the roughness scale) within high-production groups. Industry standards recommend keeping this number below 15%. Teat end scores reveal valuable insights into equipment performance, prep routines, and cow comfort during milking.