31/05/2020
DAIRY COW MANAGEMENT
There are supposed to be 5-6 sections in a dairy herd
1) calf pen
2) heifer section
3) dry cow/ maternity section
4) freshly calved and high producer section
5) mid and late lactation section
6) sick bay
Most dairy farms grouping is not done thus high producers and freshly calved feed same ration as those in late and dry period a system we would term as "survival for the fittest "The late lactation cows convert most energy to fat whereas high producers have relatively poor appetite, low feed intake instead of getting special attention are reduced to eating remnants. This brought issue high producers are underfed whereas low producers àre overfed.
Dry cow management
This group of dairy cows in a herd that requires special attention and their feeding should be very objective. They must be grouped / housed / grazed separately with rest of herd. They transition two times within 60 days and every transition there is stress that really needs to be managed from nutritional point of view and general management to curb stress. The transition is:
1) From lactating to dry period
2) From dry cow to lactating
The main objectives in this period are:
1) Maintain optimum body condition score of 3.5-4
2) Preparing milk factory for next lactation
3) Nourishment of developing calf
4) Minimize on digestive, metabolic and infectious diseases
The dry cow management program varies from farm-farm and from batch to batch if fodder type, variety and quality are not the same. The risk of not observing dry cow management is too detrimental and could lead to:
1) Health problems
2) Susceptibility to metabolic and digestive disorders
3) Mastitis
4) Reduced reproductive performance
5) Reduced feed intake
6) Low milk yields
Irrespective of feeding regime adopted the guidelines should be:
1) Meet minerals and vitamins requirement
2) Avoid excessive protein intake
3) Limit energy intake as excessive energy results to over conditioned cow
4) Maintain optimum dietary fibre requirement
Too much of something is poisonous and if overdone would lead to fat cow syndrome associated heavily with downer cow, inconsistency in feed intake, susceptibility to mastitis and metritis, udder oedema, retained After birth, ketosis, milk fever etc.
Did you know cows at late lactation stand higher chances to be over conditioned if energy intake is not monitored than when dry? It’s hard to condition a dry poorly conditioned cow thus highly advisable to score cow’s body condition before drying off milk in order to develop steaming up feeding regime. It’s equally important NEVER to allow cows on late lactation feed together with rest of herd on early lactation.
During dry period it’s advisable to regulate intake of legumes, maize silage and other super nutritious fodder. Not really a contradicting statement but fodder and concentrate fed last 21 days to calving down should be continued on early lactation as abrupt changes increases stress. Concentrate should be increased gradually post calving at rate of 0.5kgs-1.5kg per day and NOT recommendable to feed over 5kgs of concentrate per feeding per cow.
