¹Veterinary Medicine Extension and ²Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center, Tulare, CA.

Dairy hospital pens serve the very useful function of separating the sick cows from the healthy milking and dry cows on a dairy. Cows in the sick pen are separated from the other healthy cows to prevent spread contagious diseases and to divert their antibiotic adulterated milk from the milk being shipped off the farm. While in the hospital pen, the sick cows can receive special attention required by their health needs.

As is the case in human hospitals, patients with contagious, infectious or undiagnosed illnesses are separated from the general hospital patients. Access to these patients is usually restricted to the hospital staff. Mothers who have just given birth and their newborn infants are never permitted in wards with infectious diseases. The risk of disease transmission is too great for mothers and infants who are probably very stressed from the recent birthing events.

The dairy hospital should be no different. Fresh cows should never enter the hospital pen with sick cows or be milked with the hospital string. Cows, which have just freshened, are very stressed. Just prior to and after calving, cows are perhaps the most susceptible to new infections of all kinds. This is particularly true for mastitis. It is too easy for the hands of the milkers or the milking machines to become highly contaminated with mastitis bacteria or mycoplasma and for these organisms to be transferred to the fresh cows. Many mycoplasma outbreaks start in the hospital pen when fresh and sick cows are mixed.

The cows in the hospital pen are also under stress due to their illnesses and their immune systems are not functioning at maximum potential. Therefore, these cows are also highly susceptible to getting further infections from other cows in the hospital pen. The most competent and reliable milkers should be assigned to the hospital pens to insure application of excellent milking techniques. Only single use, disposable towels should be used to wash and dry udders. Teats should be dipped and not sprayed after milking to guarantee maximum teat coverage.

Often the hospital cows are milked in the old parlor, which has been replaced by newer, more modern equipment. We have seen severely neglected hospital milking equipment with faulty pulsators and inadequate air flow capacities right next to state-of-the-art parlors. The milking equipment in the hospital pen should be treated just like the equipment used to milk the main herd and should be checked as often as the main parlor to insure proper function. Remember that a lot of the cows on your dairy will be milked at sometime during their lactation in the hospital barn.

Cows in the hospital pen should be clearly marked or identified as sick cows whose milk should not enter the main bulk tank for shipment to the cooperative. Paint sticks, chalk or leg bands are convenient methods for marking. Gates to hospital pens should be securely locked to prevent accidental mixing of cows.

A limited number of trained dairy workers should be assigned the responsibility to work in the hospital pen. The hospital pen staff should be instructed to follow treatment protocols and consult the dairy manager before deviating from any established protocol. These workers should be acutely aware of the consequences of a milk or meat residue.

Access to current treatment records should be maintained in the hospital pen for quick reference. Each time a cow is treated, a written record should be made to include the drug, dosage, and route of administration. Standardized treatment protocols can greatly simplify the treatment and record keeping process. The milk and meat withdrawal times should be determined for each treatment protocol. The date when a treated cow can be put back in the tank or sold for beef should be clearly posted. These dates should be carefully checked before any cow is returned to the milking herd or sent to slaughter. Some computerized record keeping systems will automatically determine the earliest date for re-entry into the milking herd or offer for sale.

The hospital area should have ample storage space for drugs and treatment equipment. Drug storage spaces should be clearly marked for either lactating or dry cow drugs. Equipment should be stored off the floor and where it can remain clean. Provisions should be made for sterilization and storage of needles and syringes when they are to be reused. Needles and syringes should not be left stuck into a drug bottle between uses. Vaccines and drugs which require lower temperatures should be kept in the refrigerator to preserve their potency.

Ample hot water and at least one large capacity sink should be readily available in the hospital area. This will make cleaning easy and facilitate the cleaning of large equipment. It will also permit cleaning of workerís hands between treatments and cleaning the cows prior to surgical procedures. The entire treatment area should be constructed so that it can be easily and thoroughly cleaned.

The hospital pen is for sick cow. In order to prevent disease spread, fresh cows and calving cows should not routinely enter the hospital pen. Equipment in the hospital pen must be kept in good working order, be kept in the area and be clean at all times. Training is a must for workers with responsibilities in the hospital pen. Use of a good records keeping system is essential to track disease conditions and preclude treatment residues.