Herd Health

The transition period is challenging for the dairy cow since the cow needs to adapt very quickly to the calving process, the sudden change from a non-lactating to a lactating stage and to the preparation for the next breeding period.

Are you stressed about planting crops this spring? Are you stressed that it will be too wet or too dry when that time comes? Are you stressed about the current and forecasted milk price? Are you stressed about employee retention?

Prevention and treatment of oxidative stress (OS) could be the solution to many of the dairy health, production and welfare issues of our time. Dr. Melissa Behr of the South Dakota State Diagnostic Lab believes “oxidative stress is the backbone of all diseases and cancer in mammals.”

Ensuring your cows are healthy will improve their productivity, longevity, fertility and resistance to disease, along with reducing the costs of upkeep. A key to this well-being is controlling and limiting their stress.

The marketplace for dairy feed additives is saturated with products that claim to improve production, rumen health, cow health or efficiency, among other advantages. Many of these products can be classified as either prebiotics or probiotics.

The phone call came in one evening last month. A grass-based dairy farmer, whom I’ve known for years, was calling – there was a problem. Three cows were down; two of them were trembling with something like spasms.