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
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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
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WESTFAUA
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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
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controlled phase
feeding of
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each individual
cow.
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terminal and
modem will
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manage your
entire dairy.
Westfalia Dairyplan
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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
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WHICH
ALL
OTHERS
TRY TO
MEASURE
UP TOI!
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■-
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.
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