ELLEN JORDAN Dairy Specialist Texas Extension Service DALLAS, Texas What hap pens to the dry cows on your farm? Are they put in a back pasture and left to fend for themselves? Or do you treat their care as an invest ment in your future? Many times, dry cows don’t receive enough attention. Since they aren’t contributing to current cash flow and profit, they may be given poorer quality feed or their rations may not be formulated specifically to meet their needs. Body Condition Score Proper management of the dry cow begins at the end of the cow’s previous lactation. For years, you have been looking at cows and say ing they are too thin or too heavy. In redent years, we have begun to quantify condition using a body condition score of 1 to 5. A condition score change of one METATRON Will Make Your Milking System Complete! Westfalla’s Metatron gives you the edge in effective, economical herd management. This DHIA and USDA approved cowside milk meter provides milk metering on an individual cow milking for ln-parlor evaluation. Vital Information of milk produced, maximum milk flow, average milk flow and milking time Is also available at cowside. Aids you to better manage each individual cow. The Metatron Milk Meter Is transparent for visible operation and designed to take years of use. The unrestricted, full 1” milk outlet takes Into account all air flow and milk flow, requirements for high producing dairy cows of today and tomorrow. It’s convenient, too, and can be on line mourned, or remotely mourned out of the operator’s way. Metatron Control DAIRYPLAN A Complete Herd Management Computerized System Dairyplan ► communicates directly with Westfalia Metatron Milk Meters to and from the parlor. WESTFAUA MAIN OFFICE W «D- USQIA PA 17540 t. fft unit is approximately 120 pounds of bodyweight. During late lacta tion, cows should have a condition score of 3 to 3.5. During the dry period a cow’s condition score should be 3.25 to 3.75. Overcondilioned dry cows are 2.5 times more likely to develop cystic ovarian disease, 7 times more prone to foot problems after calving, and 2.8 times more likely to develop a reproductive problem during the next lactation compared to herdmates in good condition. In addition, cows which lose body condition during the dry per iod are at a greater risk for dystocia and for culling in the subsequent lactation. Dry Cow Treat Another important management tool is dry cow treatment: Dry cow treat all quarters of all cows after the Final milking of the lactation, and use a product that is specifical ly designed for dry cows. DO NOT Westfalia Dairyplan is management controlled phase feeding of concentrates to each individual cow. ◄ Central Computer with optional terminal and modem will help you manage your entire dairy. Westfalia Dairyplan allows you to design your reports the way you want them. FISHER & THOMPSON, INC. DAIRY $ MILKING EQUIPMENT SALES Si SERVICE Don’t Forget The Dry Cows , 1 MANAGEMENT V WESTFALIA Two use a product designed for lactat ing cows. The advantages of dry cow treating arc many. Among them are: •The cure rate is higher than dure' lactation. •No discarded milk. •Minimized risk of antibiotic contamination of the milk. •More persistent antibiotic for mulations can be used, improving the chance of success. •Damaged tissue has time to be repaired before freshening. •Decreased incidence of clinical mastitis at freshening. •Prevention of new infections during the dry period. Grouping Separate dry cows into a mini mum of two groups a far off and a closeup group. The far off group consists of cows from “dry-off” to two to three weeks before calving. The SYSTEM Jt V WHICH ALL OTHERS TRY TO MEASURE UP TOI! >1 ■- NORTHERN SERVICE CENTER RD 8 BCJX SJOim. PA 17088 close-up group includes all cows within two to three weeks of calving. The far off group may be further divided into a group that needs to gain weight and a second group that needs to maintian their weight DO NOT put cows on a diet to lose weight ~ Feed cows in the far-off group rations that contribute ;to develop ment of the rumen musculature. This includes some long-stemmed forages that are high in fiber. Pro viding plenty of fiber during the dry period can minimize postpar tum digestive problems such as displaced abomasum (DA). Reduced dry matter intake usu ally occurs during the last two to three weeks prepartum. Thus, increase the nutrient density of the ration to maintain the desired quantities of protein, energy, min erals and vitamins. IA- IN S I f H I I H • <r* <k*(> AUTOMATIC CALF FEEDER brings feeding calves into the twenty-first century. Biologically exact portions of freshly mixed milk replacer are available at any time of the day or night, when the calf is hungry. The calf-feeder attached to Dairy Plan feeds the calves auto matically exactly what they need. The portions are always freshly stirred and at a constant temperature, this easy-to-clean calf feeder Is operationally reliable, easy to use and easy to maintain. srsiuur, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 10, 1993-Al9 Feeding ’HIGH TECH DAIRYING July 13-14, 1993 Lebanon Fairgrounds pennState. Avoid drastic changes in the postpartum ration by introducing feeds of low palatability (certain fats and animal proteins, for exam ple) into the ration during the late dry period. Also feed at least most of the post-calving feeds during the late dry period. This does not mean you should feed the lactating ration to the close-up cows without modifica tion. Check with your nutritionist to see which feeds might be detri mental to dry cow health and avoid using them for the dry cow ration. Dietary Cation-Anion Recently we have been hearing about the positive effects of feed ing rations with a negative dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) to dry’cows. Cations are positively charged ions and anions arc negatively charged ions. Feeding negative DCAD rations (Turn to Pago A 23) * -m. f » <• See Us At The... Animal Housing Expo BN CoIHH of AirinlMl kan W
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