Herd Health

Footbath protocols are vital to ensuring hoof health in your herd. Over the years, dairy producers across the globe have adapted their operations to have footbaths on the farm to help ward off infectious hoof disease such as digital dermatitis.

Uterine health disorders rarely result in the death of a cow, but they can impact the entire lactation of a cow, not just the transition period.

During the peripartum, dairy cows face an increased demand for nutrients to support the initiating lactation. As this demand is followed by slower increments in dry matter intake (DMI), the levels of energy consumption do not meet the energetic requirements of the starting lactation.

The transition period is marked by low dry matter intake (DMI) that is inadequate to meet energy and amino acid requirements for the fetus and milk production post-calving.

A majority of the attention placed on colostrum management has to do with how to properly harvest, store and feed colostrum for maximum benefit to the calf.

The transition period, traditionally three weeks before calving and three weeks following, can be a high-stress time in a dairy cow’s life. The environment, diet and pen changes, and poor management all can be detrimental to immune function as well as negatively impact the cow for generations to come.