Early Warning Mastitis Detector

Early Warning Mastitis detector LIVESTOCK Dairy (17) 14-5-23 A revolutionary new system that detects mastitis while it's still at the "sub-clinical" stage allows you to take preventive action to keep infection from getting to the point where you'll have to take the cow out of production. The "Black Box" detector is installed at each milking point. It has no moving parts and takes only hours to install the entire system in an average size parlor. "It detects infections long before clinical signs appear. When a problem does develope, some farmers choose to strip out the indicated cow every hour for a day which often eliminates the infection," says manufacturer John Edwards of Action Plan Ltd. The detector, which has been in development for 15 years and was shown to the public for the first time at the Royal Show, lets you check each cow every day. It works on the principle that mastitis infection alters the electrical conductivity of milk. When harmful bacterial counts rise, changing the conductivity, an audible alarm is set off. You can even determine which quarter is causing the problem by pinching each hose in turn until the signal goes off. Sells for $175 per unit. The company is already negotiating withU.S. milking equipment distributors. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Action man Limited, 2 Shortbridge St., New-town, Powys SY16 2LW England (ph 0686 622600; fax 0686 622-601).

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