Castle, who specialises in mastitis and reproductive health for Bayer, has invented the Intercept SQ-EZI gun.
The applicator is not only a first for New Zealand dairying but is an innovation that was rapidly brought to market – only four months from initial concept to the veterinary clinic shelf, he said.
“Traditionally teat sealants are injected into the opening of a cow’s teat using a syringe, thus creating a barrier to infection entering the cow’s udder.
“However, because the sealant is quite viscous, it means sore thumbs and blisters for farmers who may have to do hundreds of cows at a time.
“There was also the added hassle of having to warm the syringes beforehand to make it easier to push the syringe plunger,” Castle said.
So he came up with the concept for an applicator device last November when working with a vaccination gun.
“I knew we could do something similar for our teat sealant Intercept but had to overcome the problem of it working with the actual sealant, which is quite thick.
“Through clever design and engineering we were able to develop an applicator with the ideal leverage and tension to make injecting teat sealant a much easier process. It doesn’t have to be heated either, meaning less hassle for farmers.”
The applicator is simple in design and function and has been produced to work with the existing Intercept syringe.
The syringe is slipped into the applicator before cleaning the teat. SQ-EZI then makes applying the seal to the teat easier and more comfortable for the operator.
“The SQ-EZI has been well received by dairy farmers and we believe it has the potential to revolutionise the way intramammary treatments are administered,” Castle said.
The Intercept SQ-EZI applicator is available only with Intercept teat sealant from rural vet clinics.
