20—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 2, 1973
Keep Cows Milking This Summer
By Glenn A. Shirk
Associate County Agent
Chester County
Most people respond favorably
to comfort a nd regular attention;
dairy cattle are much the same.
In other words, keep cows
comfortable this summer if you
expect them to produce well. Cow
comfort can be summed up in
several words: fly control,
regular attention, shade, ven
tilation, fresh water, and suf
ficient feed.
Control Flies
Flies not only annoy cattle, but
they also suck blood and carry
diseases. They can reduce milk
production by as much as 20
percent. If you want good fly
control, start NOW-before the
flies becom e a problem-and
perform ALL five of the following
practices:
1. Sanitation-This is the most
important practice in the control
of flies; it prevents fly buildup by
eliminating breeding areas.
Spraying is no substitution for
sanitation! Sanitation involves
the daily cleaning of stable
gutters and daily scraping of
alleys and lots. It also means
weekly removal of any bedded
manure packs.
2. Shade-Cows like shade, but
most flies do not. Thus, one way
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to keep cows comfortable and
also protect them from flies is to
either keep them in a dean, well
ventilated barn during the
daytime or provide plenty of
shade in the pasture.
3. Cattle Sprays-At best,
sprays will only give very tem
porary relief, and daily spraying
is usually necessary. This may be
accomplished in a number of
ways. Best coverage can be
obtained by either using mist
sprayers located in the barn exit
or by using small hand sprayers
at milking time. Another alter
native is to use dust bags or self
oilere in the cow exits. Recom
mended materials include:
Ciodrin, Vapona, malathion, and
methoxychlor.
4. Stable Insecticide-As I
mentioned earlier, the use of
insecticides is no substitution for
good sanitation. However, they
can supplement sanitation, and
can be use’d in one of several
ways. Of the insecticides, fly
baits probably will give the best
control. Baits should be kept
away from feed and milk.
Another alternative is to fog the
stable with insecticide such as
pyrethrins or Vapona: these
materials will quickly kill only
those flies that are present in the
barn at that time, and will give no
residual control. For residual
control, the walls, ceilings, and
stalls may be sprayed with
Cygon, Baytex, Korlan, or
Gardona. At best, residual
control usually lasts for only a
few weeks; results are usually
unpredictable and repeated
applications are necessary.
5. Milk House Insecticides-The
first objective should be to keep
flies out of the milk house by
using screens and keeping the
milk house doors closed. When it
is necessary to revert to sprays,
be sure to keep milk utensils and
milk protected. Pyrethrins can
be used as a safe spray to kill
those flies that are present at the
time of spraying. Korlan or
malathion applied to the walls
will give some residual control
for a few weeks.
When using insectides, be sure
to read the labels carefully and
follow all instructions.
Regular Attention
Cows are creatures of habit.
They adjust slowly to changes in
work routine and feed schedules.
Thus, it would be wise to
establish regular work routines.
Remember, on the dairy farm the
milk end of the business is the
profit end. Do not neglect the
cows for the field work; the field
work may be more appealing, but
the barn work and the time spent
observing cows may be more
profitable. Some dairymen
estimate tha t when they miss one
heat period on a good cow it costs
them up to $lOO.
Avoid frequent and drastic
changes in the feeding program.
This can be a problem when
green chopping a variety of
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OPERATOR CAN MILK
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MILKERS
different crops at various stages
of maturity, or when switching
from corn silage to either grass
silage or ha ylage.
Shade plus Ventilation
Cattle appreciate shade, but
shade is not much good without
air movement. Therefore,
provide both. Heat depresses
RESULTS
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appitite and lowers breeding
efficiency. M ilk production starts
dropping as temperatures rise to
approximately 65 or 70 degrees F.
To avoid the production slymp,
keep cattle indoors during the
day time, in a clean well
ventilated barn, it could be the
(Continued On Page 21)
THE COWS ARE MOVED
TO THE OPERATOR
WALKING IS REDUCED
TO A MINIMUM
Ph. 626-4355