Should I metricheck my herd?
Should I metricheck my herd? Infections of the uterus after calving At calving around 90% of cattle have a bacterial contamination of the inside of the uterus. In many cows the immune system will clear the contamination. Some cows however will develop either metritis or endometritis. Metritis is a significant infection of the uterus that […]
Premating mineral levels
Premating mineral levels Minerals are important for cattle throughout the year, but certain times of year require a little more management around mineral supplementing than others, and one of these times is pre mating. Minerals such as Selenium, copper, cobalt, iodine, and magnesium all play a major role in the health and reproductive ability of […]
Colostrum – the key to good calf rearing
Colostrum – the key to good calf rearing Many dairy farmers understand the importance of feeding colostrum to their calves in the first few hours of life. Each calf is born without immunity to disease and must instead absorb antibodies from colostrum. Absorption of antibodies is fastest in the first few hours of life, then […]
Feeding dairy cows when it gets dry
Feeding dairy cows when it gets dry If we consider when we most often have to look at the implications of dry weather, it is in the months of January through to March so when thinking about how to manage this we probably first need to think about what we are trying to achieve over […]
Milk quality after December
Milk quality after December Controlling the bulk milk somatic cell count BMSCC is a problem common to many herds in later lactation. All herds will experience a rise in BMSCC after December each year but the extent of this rise depends on the starting point. If the BMSCC is already high around peak lactation then […]
Growing top heifers
Growing top heifers The future productivity of a dairy herd hinges on the management of the replacement heifer calves. A lot of effort goes into breeding high genetic merit replacement calves. Inadequate rearing results in poor milk production and poor reproductive performance causing high wastage rates. To avoid this wastage, adopt sound mating management and […]
Reproductive well-being of your dairy herd
Reproductive well-being of your dairy herd A critical factor in the financial performance of your dairy herd is how effectively they become pregnant following calving. In the extreme, a cow that does not conceive means no milk next season plus the loss of her genetic potential if she is culled and not carried over. Cows […]
Coccidia in dairy calves
Coccidia in dairy calves When meal feeding of dairy calves is discontinued and calves are grazing areas previously contaminated with coccidia oocysts, then this is the time we will see the effects of coccidia in younger stock. The disease will show in a couple of ways. The first is a low grade (sub clinical) infection […]
Peri-calving mastitis
Peri-calving mastitis Peri-calving mastitis is defined as a case of mastitis in the first seven days post-calving, and often occurs due to oedematous (swollen) udders and dripping milk. Prevention involves Calving cows on “clean” pasture, which we all know is easier said than done! Keeping springers off mud will help to reduce environmental contamination […]
Teatseal
Teatseal The use of teatseal can provide long term protection for heifers and those cows with low somatic cell counts (SCC) as it protects against new infections during the dry period. Teatseal in heifers has shown to have a huge reduction in the incidence of mastitis. Heifer mastitis can be a frustration to treat and […]