GEORGE F. W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. According
to the Good Book, “The eye of the
farmer fattens his cattle.”
This suggests that observing
each cow, heifer and calf daily can
mean the difference between suc
cess and failure on the farm, and
can determine how much money
an individual animal will earn or
lose for you.
Though often told to “watch
your cows for signs of heat,” there
is much more to observing cows.
Years ago, when I was involved
in milking cows in a stanchion
bam, it was our habit to walk
through the bam one more time
before going to bed, just to make
sure that no cow had a problem
which could be caught in the early
stages, not the next morning, when
any difficulty may be full blown.
Today many cow herds are out
side the bam in a loose-housing
system, and observing them is
much more difficult, especially
since herd sizes have increased.
I ask those of you who used to
go through the bam once more
before bed, are you still doing this
now that you have a loose-housing
system? Or has that old-fashioned
way of observing every cow once
more before retiring for the night
disappeared along with the stanch
ion bam?
Have you consciously decided
that you can afford to observe your
cows less and still do as good a job
as before? Do you cull problem
cows, period? So what if the aver
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GEOFFREY BARR
Columbia, PA
717-684-8526
Observing Cows Pays Off i.
age age of cows is less as a result,
and you raise just enough heifers
as replacements?
The average age of all dairy
cows in this area is now less than 5
years. It used to be that cows reach
ing 10 years of age and more still
paid their way, and there were
heifers for sale because all were
not needed as replacements.
Replacement costs were less,
and our cows made us more money
because we observed them daily,
regularly, catching minor difficul
ties before they became major
problems.
Well, you think, it's easy for him
to say. How can we observe our
cows under loose-housing condi
tions? In answer, I can tell you I
look at no fewer than six things for
every one of my cows every day.
1. At the University of Dela
ware our cows wear computer
transponder identifiers around
their neck so that I and/or the
herdsman can check each cow
every day on a computer record
which registers whether she is eat
ing as much grain as she is sup
posed to eat and how much milk
she gives every day as compared to
yesterday and for the whole week.
This pinpoints any problem cow
quickly and easily from the begin
ning, even in the largest herd. And
you don't even get your boots dirty.
2. Check the feed trough. You
may not have computer transpon
ders around the necks of your cows
yet, so you need to walk out to the
feed trough and observe your cows
eating, find which one is not vigor
ously eating her silage, her hay, her
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grain, her TMR (total mixed
ration) or other feed ration.
Problems begin to show up
when cows don't feel like eating.
The beginning of heat periods can
be discovered in this way as well.
3. Look into her eyes. Is she
alert, perking up her ears, or are the
eyes and ears droopy? These are
clues to beginning problems.
Move that cow into a comer or a
pen to take her temperature and to
find out what ails her.
4. Her milk will tell you some
thing, too. Did she milk as much
today as yesterday? Is her milk
normal-looking? What about
checking her milk from each quar
ter with a CMT (California masti
tis test) paddle for subclinical
mastitis?
5. Look under her tail. Does she
have mucus or a swollen vulva
all signs of heat or is anything
else abnormal but observable?
6. Finally, what does her man-
Fred Boss
Oshkosh, Wl
Glen Pollack
Avalon Farms
Van Dyne, WI
DALE BENNETT
Laceyvllle, PA
717-869-2320
ure look like? A wealth of informa
tion can be gleaned from observing
the manure from your cows.
In fact, a recent Cornell review
sheds some light on just how use
ful manure observation can be.
The amount of large feed particles
in manure reveals the duration of
digestion in the cow's stomachs,
how thoroughly she ruminated and
how fast all of it went through her
rumen.
Undigested plant fiber parts in
manure indicate failure of rumen
digestion, specifically of fiber and
cellulose digestion in the rumen,
not in the intestine.
Com kernels from com silage or
other grain kernels in the manure
mean that there was insufficient
rumination to catch the kernels.
They need to be softer so they
break up easier, or they need to be
cracked and ground. Or perhaps
more fiber must be fed at the same
time.
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(215) 267-3945
A time to salute the
Goodness
Real Dairy Products
All year round we enjoy the pure, real taste
of American dairyfoods.,.milk, cheese, butter,
ice cream, yogurt and mare. It’s only fitting that
once a year we take the time to salute America’s
dairy farmersfor this outstanding contribution.
31E. Main St.
Ephrata, PA
‘Lphrata
Cloister Branch
809 Martin Ave.
733-4631
You can wash a manure sample
through an old nylon stocking and
find out quickly whether and how
much of an indigestion problem
you have with a particular cow.
Normally, particle sizes should not
exceed 0.25 inch.
Adult cows normally pass their
feeds through within 2 to 4 days, in
portions about every other hour,
totalling at least 15 to 25 pounds in
a 24 hour-period.
More frequent manure deposi
tion occur? with diarrhea, which
also often exhibits more than 90%
water content. Failure of regular
manure deposit means an obstruc
tion somewhere, probably dis
placed abomasum, or disturbance
of normal motility of the rumen
from too much grain feeding or
from hardware ingestion.
In either case, a veterinarian is
needed; possibly surgery will be
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From 6:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Now’s the time!
Say "Thanks” During
June Dairy Month
Denver Branch Hinkletown Branch
Main & Snyder St. R.D. 1, New Holland
267-4928 354-4951
(Turn to Page Dl6)
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Bth, 1991
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