As the Christmas period continues on, it is important to be critiquing your dry cow management and ensuring cows are getting their minerals to build body condition score (BCS).
A well-managed dry cow period is also the ideal time to recharge your own batteries in order to be ready for when cows start calving in early spring.
The reduced workload on farms now that cows are dried off should be taken advantage of, and the bare minimum of feeding cows, cleaning cubicles and herding stock is all that should be done over the festive period.
The goal of the cow period is to ensure that the cows are calving down healthy with an optimum BCS of 3.0 to 3.25 with healthy udders and low somatic cell count (SCC).
Dry cow management
The majority of issues that arise from the calving period can often be traced back to the dry or transition period of the cows.
Making sure that cows are in the correct mineral status during the dry period will play a major role in preventing milk fever and associated problems such as slow calving, retained placenta, ketosis and displaced abomasum.
Examples of issues that can arise during the transition period include:
- Udder oedema;
- Milk fever;
- Retained placenta;
- Displaced abomasum (stomach);
- Laminitis;
- Metritis;
- Ketosis;
- Fatty liver syndrome.
Regular blood testing of your herd will help determine the mineral required for the herd, and a plan can then be put in place and discussed with your vet.
Problems arise on farms when the cows don’t receive enough minerals or are fed too much of a certain mineral, and so it is important that the rates fed are properly calculated.
Feeding
Reduce the amount of metabolic disorders from occurring starts with feeding well preserved silage at 68% to 70% dry matter digestibility (DMD), ideally.
Lower DMD silages may require some concentrate supplementation or a longer dry period to regain body reserves.
All silages and forages should be tested to see what the mineral content is as this will help dictate what mineral supplementation programme needs to be carried out.
Most dry cow minerals are carefully manufactured to address cows’ requirements, but they must be fed properly as it is recommended to supplement with minerals for the last seven weeks of pregnancy.
The specifications for your minerals should be as follows:
- Low calcium (<1.1%);
- 20-25% magnesium;
- 2-5% phosphorus (P) fed at a higher rate if forage P content is low;
- Vitamin D – at least 12,000 units/100g;
- Trace minerals – copper, zinc, selenium, manganese, iodine and cobalt with protected sources included where required.
Minerals are usually fed at a rate of 120g/cow/day and if you are dusting minerals on silage, it is better to do it twice a day at a rate of 60g.
Inadequate mineral supplementation during the dry period can cause problems with perinatal calf health, as well as problems with cow health.
It is crucial that farmers try to follow these mineral specifications to make sure that the cow is calving at a BCS of 3.25 so no issues occur after.
