A2o*Lmcaster Farming, Saturday, February 26, 1994
Dry Cow Management Key To Healthy High Production
VERNON ACHENBACH JR.
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) Two dairy experts traded
off in a fast-paced, fact- and
opinion-packed Lancaster County
Dairy Day seminar held Tuesday
at the Lancaster Farm and Home
Center.
Like a tag-team duo, the two
doctors alternated with a series of
short slide presentations, that rein
forced what each other observed,
while giving their own reasons.
The experts were Brian Perkins,
PhD, a dairy expert with
Dairy Tech Management Service
Inc., of New Haven, Vt.; and Dr.
Robert Fry, a veterinarian with
Atlantic Dairy Management Ser
vice, of Chestertown, Md.
The same two speakers had been
scheduled to speak at Prescott Fire
Hall in Lebanon County on Wed
nesday for that county’s dairy day
program, but it was cancelled
because of a winter storm.
According to Ken Winebark,
Lebanon County extension agent,
Lebanon County people who were
interested in attending the program
can still pick up information pap
ers that were to be distributed.
Also, the Lancaster program
was video taped and according to
Glenn Shirk, Lancaster County
dairy extension agent, copies are
available for a nominal charge to
cover the cost of reproduction. For
more information, call (717)
394-6851.
Lancaster County has also sche
duled a second all-day Dairy Day
seminar for Tuesday, March 1,
also at the Lancaster Farm and
Home Center, located on Farm and
Home Center Road, off of Rt. 72,
near Rt. 30.
The theme of this Tuesday’s
program was management for high
producing cows through all stages
of life and lactation, with an
emphasis on Autrition, reproduc
tion and herd profits.
Glenn Shirk started off the prog
ram reviewing the basics of dairy
farm management and outlined
goals for success, and problems
and practices to avoid.
Perkins and Fry then proceeded
to discuss several topics, taking
questions from the audience of
about ISO, throughout the day.
Because of audience interest,
the two even continued a question
and answer session for a half hour
as the morning session finished,
cutting into the lunch break.
Fry started off explaining that,
in order for any type of manage
ment program for high producing
cattle to become effective, team
work is required.
He said a three-way team rela
tionship should exist between the
dairyman, his veterinarian and his
nutritionist.
“The very best nutritionist or vet
can’t do it without the dairyman,”
Fry said. "All have to work very
closely together.”
According to Fry, the person
with the biggest responsibility in
the relationship is the dairyman,
charged with at least SO percent of
the responsibility for a successful
program.
This is so, because the dairyman
has to understand and carry out the
advice of the nutritionist and vet.
He has to be the one who recog
nizes the subtleties of the herd and
make the nutritionist and vet aware
of them.
And the dairyman is the one
who has to make sure records are
kept and that the information being
recorded is accurate and
dependable.
Fry then outlined the topics he
would cover; replacement heifers,
dry cows, calving, peak milk pro
duction, and late lactation.
He said the goal for replacement
heifers is to, “Get from calf to
milking as fast, as healthy, and as
efficiently as possible.”
According to Fry, the goal
should be to go from calving to
milking at 24 months with an aver
age daily gain of 1.7 pounds. That
way body weight at pre-freshening
should be around 1.350 pounds,
counting the calf.
The loss of income to the dairy
man for maintaining a heifer to 26
months before freshening “is tre
mendous.” Fry said.
According to the veterinarian, it
can cost from $1 to $1.20 per day
during those two extra months,
with no offsetting production to
pay for itself.
For SO heifers, that amounts to
an extra $3,000 being paid out
because the first calving is at 26
months, instead of 24 months.
The loss of milk income during
those two months makes the loss
even more significant.
Furthermore, over the duration
of a dairyman’s herd’s life, he is
losing years of opportunity to be
increasing the genetic value of the
herd.
He said the key to freshening
heifers at 24 months is to start with
healthy newborn heifers and that
means maternity stalls in a clean,
dry, isolated (from other animals
and people) area so that the dam
cow doesn’t have any problem
with internal natural hormonal
mechanisms which promote a
healthy calving.
The newborn calf should have
fresh, full-strength colostrum
“The very best nutritionist or vet can*t do it
without the dairyman Fry said. “All have to
work very closely together ”
within the first eight hours and pre
ferably within the first couple of
hours.
A rule of thumb both experts
offered is a gallon of colostrum in
the first eight hours, but better if
that gallon can be given within the
first hour or two, even if it means
stomach tube feeding.
The reason for this is because
once the initial wave of colostrum
passes through the intestines, the
walls of the intestine become less
absorbing of the protection of the
colostrum. After eight hours, any
potential for the colostrum to give
the calf protection is negligible.
Keep the calf, clean, dry and fed
well, but not fat, they said.
“This care is more important
that all the vitamins, etc., that you
can give a calf,” Fry said.
He also said to use a 7-percent
iodine solution (not teat dip which
is usually around 1 percent) on the
naval and to keep the newborn
clean and dry.
“It doesn’t have to be fancy,”
Fry said.
As far as feeding the calf, use
whole milk or whole milk replacer
with at least 20 percent protein and
20 percent fat.
“Check the label,” Fry said. “If
you have 24 percent replacer and
dilute it according to the label,
you’re going to have 2.4 percent
fat, 2.4 percent protein.”
He said that many people use
milk replacer as recommended on
the labels, because it appears to be
more inexpensive than whole
milk.
However, Fry said to consider
the real value. He said that while
feeding whole milk might seem
To get fast gains on heifers , both experts
recommended feeding higher quantities of pro
tein than what the NRC recommends.
expensive, it is much cheaper than
feeding milk replacer diluted only
to the point that it equals the food
value of milk. 1
Regular whole milk runs, about
3.67 percent or higher in butterfat,
and at about 3.2 percent protein.
Compared to the amounts of those
components in replacer, the dairy
man is actually paying more when
he uses replacer as it should be
mixed.
Fry said that a heifer should be
vaccinated twice once during
pre-breeding at age 8 months to a
year; and again after being con
firmed pregnant.
Deworming can be done
through incorporating it into the
heifer feed. It should be done twice
in the spring, not in the fall or
winter.
It should be done early to knock
out the first wave of roundworms,
etc., and then repeated later to
reduce the second wave and kill
the adults and any new infections.
If a herd manager puts the heif
ers out and then waits until the fall
to worm them, the heifers will
have already suffered the whole
summer and not grown to
potential.
Many parasites go into dorman
cy during the late fall through
winter and treatment is ineffective.
First breeding of the young heif
er should be done based on the ani
mal’s age, height and body weight.
The time to breed is a combina
tion of the (Holstein) heifer being
32 inches tall at the shoulder, have
a body score of 3.5 and be 14
months old. “There is nothing in
here about weight, because it is
difficult to weigh animals correct
ly and many farms don’t have
scales.”
As far as facilities for heifers,
they don’t have to be fancy, but
they should be designed so thAt the
heifers can be easily handled, both
men said. Headlocking feeding
gates work well.
Identification should be easy,
Fry said, and he recommended
large ear tags in both ears, which
more or less follows recommenda
tions by the National Holstein
Association, as well.
Perkins said that the average age
to first freshening has not changed
“If you have trouble making milk, especially
peak milk, look back 60 days and say, * What did I
feed those dry cows?’”
much over the past 30 years.
According to the expert, in 1962,
the average age was 27.5 months.
In 1986, it was 27.8 months.
“There’s been no progress, what’s
wrong?” Perkins asked
rhetorically.
Being from Vermont, Perkins
said the cattle there average a little
smaller in stature than those in the
Lancaster and Maryland. Howev
er, his recommendations for breed
ing were close to those made by
Fry.
He said at breeding at 13 months
they should be about 730 to 800
pounds and be about SO inches
high. They should be experiencing
about a 1.8- to 2-pound-per day
rate of gain at that time.
Perkins said they should be S 3
inches at the withers, 1,250 pounds
at freshening (which he later said
was the weight of the heifer with
out the calf), and ha ve a body score
of 3.3 to 3.5, “No 4s!” he said
loudly.
Height is important, he said, but
body score and weight are more
important Height is a variable
trait but one of the most inherit
able in cattle. If the size of the
parent cattle is not great given
proper nutrition, then the height of
the offspring can be expected to be
similar.
To get fast gains on heifers, both
epxerts recommended feeding
higher quantities of protein than
what the NRC recommendations
are.
A typical ration for a young
heifer would include a 14 percent
protein grain source, in addition to
hay. Perkins said that instead, to
promote better and faster growth, a
32-percent protein grain be used,
and the grain should not be com.
Grouping of heifers should also
be done at least four groups
and more if possible, Perkins
said in order to diminish com
petition between different age ani
mals which can prevent a heifer
from getting proper access to food
and water.
With respect to calves, Perkins
also said to give colostrum as soon
-as possible.
“Colostrum is the No. 1 guaran
tee of a healthy calf.’’ He recom
mended a gallon in the first two
hours, "even if you have to sto
mach tube.’’
He reiterated the recommenda
tions for calf starter being of prop
er composition, and warned
against going with inadequate
starter.
Perkins also warned against
starting calves out on first cutting
hay. “It is too high in fiber for a
baby to digest,” he said. He said to
give them a “nice mixture of grass
and alfalfa” second or third cut
ting, and free choice water from
the day they are bom.
Water is important Perkins said.
If they don't get enough water its
reduces the calf’s growth poten
tial. Also, while calves have been
known to bloat on free choice
water, Perkins said giving water
free choice from the first prevents
that. He said that waiting two
weeks to offer water can result in
bloating.
Both experts said that dry cow
care is very important.
According to Perkins, he sus
pects that many more problems
with fresh cows and lactating
cows including mastitis, keto
sis, laminitis and foot problems
and rebreeding difficulties can
be traced to dry cow management
“First be sure she’s pregnant
Two, body condition should be
improving or staying the same.
She should not be losing weight.”
Perkins said most farms should
have at least two groups of dry
cows, those groups should be done
according to stage of lactation, or
body condition.
As far as dry cow nutrition, Per
kins said, “On most farms, it is the
most neglected ration, but I’m con
vinced it is the most important
ration on the farm.
“If you have trouble making
milk, especially peak milk, look
back 60 days and say, ‘What did I
feed those dry cows?’” Perkins
said.
He said the number one goal
should be to freshen a cow with a
“sharp” appetite. That does not
mean that any food should be with
held a prefresh cow. Just the oppo
site is true, according to the two
experts.
The key in keeping a cow
healthy and on feed as she goes
through the calving process and
freshens, is to make sure she is fed
a lot of fiber (grass hay) that has
below 1.2 percent potassium
content.
“Please put up enough quality
hay to feed to a prefresh group for a
year,” Perkins said.
The concept is that bulk in the
rumen and abomasum will keep
those organs stretched to normal
capacity during the pre-fresh per
iod and immediately afterward,
when the cow normally reduces
feed intake.
Perkins compared it to eating a
large meal and then being hungry
the next day. It is because the sto
mach is stretched out from the
large meal and as it empties,
“wants” to be filled back to that
volume.
Specifically, Perkins said that in
the lower Susquehanna Valley,
Lancaster in particular, because of
the high density livestock opera
tions and the amount of manure
used for fertilizer, that potassium
levels in the hay are much too high
to feed to upclose cows.
The reason he singled out potas
sium is because it interferes with
the magnesium availability and the
magnesium is necessary for proper
muscle contractions. It also inter
feres with the cows normal ability
to use calcium from its bones to
support itself and the developing
calf. “Yes, we are feeding calcium,
but she has to get calcium from her
bones,” he said.
High potassium levels interfere
with the cow’s normal hormonal
mechanisms which pull calcium
from her bones for use during this
time.
Further, though there is not sci
entific evidence to bear it out, he
said his field observations are such
that, if the potassium levels in the
hay fed to prefresh dry cows is
from 1.2 percent to 1.5 percent,
there will probably be a higher
incidence of ketosis, displaced
abomasum, and they may clean,
but have a pussy discharge. He
said all are classic signs of high
potassium intake while prcfresh.
He said those who feed hay with
greater than 1.5 percent potassium
should use anionic salts which
bind the potassium and render it
benign.
Instead, however, he said the
best thing to do is to sell a bunch of
high quality alfalfa hay to someone
in upstate New York and buy some
high quality grass hay from there
that was grown on land that didn’t
receive any manure for the past 10
years.
As far as scoring animals. Fry
said that he has found a minimal,
but very practical strategy for scor
ing. He said that, as a minimum,
once a month two groups should be
scored those scheduled to be
dried off within the next 30 days,
and those coming fresh within the
next 30 days.
“Those two groups give a report
card,” Fry said. *T used to score at
peak milk, or through lactation, but
you can’t do anything about it
then.”
(Turn to Pago A 22)