Herd management tips

Lameness and resting behavior

The importance of rest

Top 10 resting rules rest

Preventing metabolic problems in fresh
heifers during cold weather

Get a handle on culling

Lameness and resting behavior

Resting is essential to high milk production. It has been shown that non-lame cows spent 12 hours a day laying down (resting) and 2 hours standing in stalls. Moderately lame cows spent more than 6 hours a day standing and only 10 hours lying in stalls. To make true progress in milk production, the herd manager must find those moderately lame cows and work to correct/prevent the problem. Author Bill Matzke, Holtz-Nelson Consulting Date May 2006

The importance of rest

Why is rest so important to high milk production? 1. Blood flow to the mammary gland is 21.6% greater than when standing. 2. Blood plasma growth hormone concentrations are decreased when cows are prevented from lying for more than 14 hours per day. 3. Rumination occurs in 80% of all resting bouts. 4. After a 3 hour period without being allowed to lie down or eat, cows chose to lie down rather than eat. Author Bill Matzke, Holtz-Nelson Consulting Date May 2006

Top 10 resting rules

1. Time spent away from food, water & resting area should not exceed 3 hours per day or 1 hour per milking. 2. If 4X, 5X, or 6X milking is being considered, do not forget Rule 1! 3. A cow spends very little time drinking but must consume 20 to 30 gallons per day (usually in around 30 minutes). 4. Should the routine of the dairy be established solely by the manager or by the individual cow? 5. How many resting cows can you find that are curled up and sound asleep in a stall? (should be more than 1) 6. Can you walk into a pen and find a cow lying comfortably in every stall? (answer should be yes). 7. Are the cows resting for at least 12 hours/day? 8. Headlocks do not affect resting behavior. 9. Social hierarchy is extremely important to a cow. Watch commingled groups closely to find problems. 10. You cannot "out-nutrition" problems that stem from lack of resting behavior.  Author Bill Matzke, Holtz-Nelson Consulting Date May 2006

Back to top

Preventing metabolic problems in fresh heifers during cold weather

Heifers calving during winter months can have extremely dense hair coats. These animals should have their entire back clipped (shaved) when they enter the prefresh pen. The reason is that pregnant heifers have relatively low feed intakes before they calve. After calving, their intake doubles and the milking diet is much more fermentable. Both of these changes mean that the heifer is producing a lot of metabolic heat. That extra heat combined with a heavy winter coat can mean an overheated heifer who reduces feed intake. And a fresh heifer that is not eating enough feed to meet her needs will quickly become a sick heifer. By clipping off about a 1 foot wide strip of fur from withers to tailhead, we keep the heifers from overheating. After this past winter where a cold fall was followed by a relatively mild winter, a lot of NY farms are seeing good results (mostly a huge reduction in ketosis) by following this practice. Critical to making this practice work: a pair & a spare set of heavy duty clippers, extra bl ades, and plenty of blade oil. Author Corwin Holtz, Holtz-Nelson Consulting Date February 2006

Get a handle on culling

Many herd managers have a benchmark for culling rates that are based on either maximizing genetic gain or maintaining a static herd size. So long as they stay under this rate, all is assumed to be well. However, a great deal of income can be lost if this is the only culling information being considered. One important piece of information is the average value of cull cows. Certainly, this will vary with the beef market. However, the price difference between a healthy animal in good condition and one that just barely makes it to the sale ring is huge. And an overabundance of culls (as compared with animals marketed for beef) will impact average cull price alot more than market fluctuations. Hand in hand with this idea is to track when cows are culled. When transition cow management is suboptimal, most culls occur in early lactation. DDI has a goal of less than 15% of culled animals leaving the herd during the first 60 days in milk.  Another consideration is dairy sales. If static herd size is a goal, then it makes more sense to market healthy dairy cows/heifers than to sell animals for beef. If dairy sales are minimal, this is a sign that too much of the culling is involuntary. Author Larry Jones, Dairy Development International Date March 2006

Back to top