A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 28, 1998
QUESTION: What is the prop
er time when cows should reach
peak production? Ours peak at 30
to 40 days and then go down? This
docs not seem right, but we do not
know what to do.
ANSWER: Normally we see
cows peak between 55 and 65 days
in milk. It is okay to alter from
these numbers, such as in herds
that use BST early in lactation.
Cows that peak early in lactation
tell us that the diet following calv
ing is out of balance, or that the
prefresh period of the cows in not
conducive to good performance.
Some statistics are found in your
DHLA program that can help us
pinpoint where we should look to
solve your problem.
Let us first look at what infor
mation can help locate the trouble
and then maybe we can find some
changes are needed to correct your
peaking problems.
What is most noticeable about
your held is the extremely high
butterfat test in mature cows from
zero to 40 days in milk.
First lactation animals average 4
percent butterfat during this per
iod, and appear to have normal fat
tests as lactation proceeds.
Second and higher lactation
cows on the other hand show fat
levels averaging more than 4.6
percent during this same (early)
period. Some cows’ early lactation
milk tests as high as 6.5 percent
The normal range of fat test for
Holstcins in early lactation should
be somewhere from 3.8 percent to
4.2 percent
Your cows are significantly
higher than this and often teims we
see severe weight loss associated
| Attention Hunters |
Mt Ml
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with the high fat test You indicate
that many cows are getting thin
and seem to lag in appetite.
These factors would make us
think that there should be the tell
tale “sweetbreath" sign in your
cows.
Your cows ate mobilizing fat
reserves extremely fast and will
result in suhclinical if not full
blown ketosis.
You need to talk with your vet
for suggestions on treatment of the
severe cows. Making some diet
changes will aid the less extreme
cows.
The fact that most of your
mature cows show this same ten
dency toward very high fat levels
in early lactation suggests that the
problem starts in the dry cow
period.
If a few cows were showing the
high fat levels, then we would need
to look at factors that affect indivi
dual cows such as illness, injury,
obesity, or something that may
suppress feed intake of individuals
versus the whole herd.
Your heifers do not show high
fat tests although they are fed the
same prefresh diet as the older
cows. This again suggests that the
problem actually starts during the
dry cow period since your heifers
were not part of that management
group.
This is what I would do to cor
rect this problem:
• Look at cows as they near dry
off and adjust diets to maintain
body scores between 3.5 and 4.5.
• Maintain some grain feeding
to dry cows and provide a balanced
diet
• Provide a balanced diet to
close-up cows 21 days before calv
ing, using much of the same feeds
she will eat when milking.
• Pay attention to dry matter
intakes, especially one week
before, and take all necessary steps
to keep her eating.
This may seem to sound too
easy, but paying attention to detail
s during the pre-calving period has
the potential for huge economic
return. As always, work together
with your vet and nutritionist to
attack these sorts of problems.
Using your DHIA records can
be a challenge, but the result will
always be profitable.
Looking forward to hearing
from more of you.
Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help farmers across the state
to have handy reference of com
modity input costs in their feeding
operations for DHIA record sheets
NUHN Manure Equipment
Injectors & Accessories
Vacuum Tankers
Available
Potomac Valley Supply
Hagerstown, MD
serving Western MD & PA
(301) 223-6877
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or to develop livestock feed cost
data, here’s last week’s average
costs of various ingredients cs
compiled from regional reports
across the state of Pennsylvania.
Remember, these are averages,
so you will need to adjust your fig
ures up or down according to your
location and the quality of your
crop.
Com, No.2y 2.3 bu., 4.12
cwt
Wheat, No. 2 2.69 bu., 4.49
cwt
Barley, No. 3 1.50 bu., 3.20
cwt
Oats, No. 2 1.38 bu., 4.29
Tanker sizes to 8500 gal
Ask for Myron
BBBISB
BLUE BALL NATIONAL BANK
Member FDIC
cwt
Soybeans, No. 1 5.32 b».,
8.88 cwt
Ear C0m—60.24 ton, 3.01 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay 114.25 ton, 5.71
cwt
Mixed Hay 115.75 ton, 5.79
cwt
Timothy Hay 108.75 ton,
5.44 cwt
Electric & PTO Pit Pumps
Trail Lagoon Pumps
i rough.
Interstate Dairy Equip.
Thurmont, MD
serving Eastern MD & PA
{800) 332-6559
(301) 271-7344
Ask for Bob
got milk?