The most profitable cows on your dairy are the fresh cows. Attending to their good health should be one of the top priorities of your herd management. There are essentially two critical areas of focus with regards to fresh cow health: nutrition, both prepartum and postpartum, and housing and grouping strategies.
Fresh cows, as we all know, are prone to metabolic challenges that will seriously hinder their productivity during their forthcoming lactation. Milk fever and ketosis, which can be significant problems in a herd, are heavily influenced by nutrition both before and after calving.
Milk fever (hypocalcemia) is brought on by the cow’s inability to metabolize calcium (a dietary issue), and ketosis is caused, in part, by a nutritional negative energy balance (again a dietary issue).
Pre-fresh diets are every bit as important for your cows as the milk cow diet. Calcium and energy status must be monitored closely in pre-fresh diets as well as after freshening.
In Dudley, Massachusetts, Jim Koebke and his wife, Krisanne, with the help of their three sons, Gus, Curtis and Nolan, milk about 80 cows.
The mixed herd of Jerseys and Holsteins average about 22,000 pounds of milk.
The cows are milked 2X in a double-six parlor and housed in freestalls. The herd is fed a typical New England diet of corn silage, grass forage and purchased grain.
Much of the year, the herd is rotationally grazed for 12-hour periods on well-managed pastures.
Koebke believes a successful transition program and healthy fresh cows come from paying close attention to details and doesn’t have to be overly complicated. During the winter months, the dry cows are housed in a Quonset hut with a bedded pack.
The dry cow diet consists of corn silage, a dry cow pellet and low-potassium hay that Koebke grows on ground that receives little or no fertilizer. All cows receive supplemental selenium and Vitamin E to help bolster immunity.
Keeping potassium low in dry cow diets is key to preventing milk fever and secondary metabolic problems such as retained placentas. The dietary cation-anion balance should be kept more towards the anionic side (acidic) so that dietary calcium can be more effectively metabolized at the time of freshening.
Keeping the potassium low in a diet automatically lowers the cation (basic) level of the diet without the need of additional acidification from anionic supplements.
Koebke’s dry cow diet, which recently began including an anionic supplement, is formulated to maintain a DCAD balance very close to 0 mill-equivalents. At freshening, all cows receive CMPK boluses prophylactically.
Koebke closely monitors the body condition of his dry cows as well. In the past, he’s had problems with ketosis that he attributes to overconditioned cows at the time of freshening.
When the occasional overconditioned cow freshens – usually a result of long days in milk – he will administer a niacin bolus to help counteract fatty-liver syndrome.
It’s well known that overconditioned cows will mobilize fat more rapidly than normal-conditioned cows. As the liver struggles to convert fat to glucose, ketones can be produced which will result in ketosis. Research has found that approximately half of all fresh cows will experience subclinical ketosis.
A reduction in feed intake is usually an indication that cows have ketosis, and the continued decline in intakes will also exacerbate the problem, making the cow even more ill.
Energy status and immune status both decline as feed intakes decline, leading to further secondary metabolic challenges such as metritis and twisted stomachs.
Even in the absence of fatty liver problems, high-producing fresh cows will experience a dietary negative energy balance during the first few weeks of lactation as their feed intakes lag behind nutritional requirements.
A lack of metabolizable calories in a fresh cow diet will cause the cow to mobilize body fat in an effort to maintain milk production.
The energy density of the diet – calories per pound of dry matter – is a key consideration of the fresh cow diet. Close-up diets must be carefully formulated to provide adequate energy density while avoiding a depression of feed intakes as the cow gets close to freshening.
Net energy for lactation (NEl) should be a minimum of .70 mcals per lb dry matter in a close-up diet. While some starch in a close-up diet is necessary to stimulate rumen papillae, diets excessively high in starch may not have adequate effective fiber.
Management and grouping strategies for pre-fresh and fresh cows vary from dairy to dairy and are mostly dependent upon herd sizes. Of primary importance for all dairies is that cows have adequate room to eat and rest.
Competition at the feedbunk has been found to be a big contributor to poor fresh cow health. Especially for first-calf heifers, competition and overcrowding should be avoided.
Koebke maintains a maternity and fresh cow pen with a bedded pack that’s spacious and clean and within just a few yards of the milking parlor. Here Koebke can keep a close eye on cows, quickly responding and treating a cow that’s having challenges.
Fresh cows that clean (lose the placenta) and have no other health issues will be turned into the milking string in four days. Otherwise, she can stay in the fresh cow pen and continue to be treated for as long as it takes.
Getting cows to freshen with no health issues can be a challenge on all dairy farms. Cows are subject to high levels of stress as they go through the transition process. Both diet and cow comfort are critical elements when transitioning cows into the next lactation.
Having healthy fresh cows that will be high producing and profitable doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of excellent management, a practiced eye, attention to details and not being afraid to tweak the transition program when necessary. PD
PHOTO: Dairyman Jim Koebke believes a successful transition program doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Photo courtesy of John Hibma.
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John Hibma
- Nutritionist
- Central Connecticut Co-operative Farms Association
- Email John Hibma
