Areas to consider for effective dry cow management

 ​In order for a dairy cow to produce to her genetic potential, she must have adequate body stores from which to draw on during early lactation. Ideally, a cow should be calving down with a BCS between 3 and 3.25. Cows calving down below a BCS of 3 tend to have poorer conception rates and fertility and are more prone to disease. Cows calving down with a BCS greater than 3.25 have reduced appetites in the critical two weeks before calving and in the early lactation period, which leads to fatty liver syndrome and other health issues. The dry period should be used to maintain body condition while late lactation is the optimum time to replenish body reserves by feeding thin cows extra concentrate. If cows are dried off in less than desirable condition, attempts can be made to add some condition during the dry period. If cows are dried off in excessive condition, it indicates that feed and money has been wasted and the likelihood of a healthy start to the next lactation is reduced. Long-term management is the key here - 90% of the herd should always be in the BCS range 2.75 to 3.25, with 90% of cows calving at 3.0 to 3.25.

 

 

When housing dry cows, the diet can be divided into two components, the forage and the concentrate. The forage should form the basis of the diet with the concentrate portion added to compensate for the inadequacies. It’s important to get forage analysed in order to accurately balance the diet for dry matter (DM), energy and protein.

It is important to realise that a cow will consume 12-13kgs of DMI at dry-off but will only be able to consume 10-11kgs of DMI in the final 21 days before calving. This is due to the increasing size of the calf taking up more space in the cow and leaving less space for silage. As mentioned previously, her energy and protein needs also increase in these final 21 days before calving and unless they are met, the cow will go into negative energy balance. That’s why it is important to avoid energy deficits in the final 21 days before calving. Feeding appropriate concentrates at this time will also help the rumen adapt to higher concentrate levels if that is the plan post-calving.

 

3. Mineral supplementation  

Silages high in potassium, with a high cation/anion balance, are proven to increase the risk of milk fever and other metabolic issues at calving. In order to identify your dry cow silage potassium levels and cation/anion balance, a mineral analysis should be completed on the silage. Feeding silages with high levels of both should be avoided however, a solution may be to dilute down the level of potassium in the diet by adding straw. An additional aid in avoiding milk fever would be to feed cows at least 20g of magnesium per day in their dry cow mineral.

Over the last number of years, Alltech has completed hundreds of silage mineral analysis and it is evident that there are significant levels of deficiency in copper, zinc and particularly selenium throughout Ireland. It is obvious that these deficiencies can be responsible for many of the calving difficulties experienced by Irish dairy farmers and that until now many of these deficiencies are not being adequately overcome.

It is critically important to feed a well-balanced mineral to dry cows as deficiencies in selenium, vitamin E, magnesium, copper and zinc can weaken the immune system and leave the cow susceptible to metabolic issues, particularly during the stressful calving period.

There are numerous published research reports, from global research institutes, demonstrating the critical role of trace elements where dry cow nutrition is concerned. These elements include zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. However, offering these minerals in their standard inorganic form, such as copper sulphate or zinc oxide will have little effect due to the low absorption levels by the cow. Research has proven that feeding these trace minerals in their organic form of BIOPLEX^® copper and zinc and SEL-PLEX^®, an organic form of selenium, leads to these minerals being better absorbed, stored and utilised by the animal. This builds the cow’s immune system and lowers the risk factors associated with difficult calvings and retained placenta.

Using proven technologies as part of a dry cow nutrition programme generates a greater return on investment, benefiting both cow performance and farm profitability. Many farmers across Ireland are now experiencing positive responses in their herd by taking this approach and ensuring BIOPLEX and SEL-PLEX are included in their dry cow mineral pre-mix.

For further information please call Alltech on 1850 44 22 44.

 

*The economics of infectious and production diseases in dairy herds, Ryan and O’Grady (2004)