Launching transition cows into a successful lactation fundamentally relies on feed and dry-matter intake. At Singing Brook Farms, Imler, Pa., they help encourage close-up cows to eat with a top dress of a pelleted electrolyte.
Greta Halahan, herd manager for the 300-cow registered Holstein dairy, shared on a Center for Dairy Excellence podcast that although the product was developed for heat-stress abatement, they top dress it on the ration twice a day for the last 2 weeks of the dry period to encourage feed intake.
“We absolutely see an improvement in feed intakes using it in the prefresh pen,” declared Halahan, adding that it helps them manage some of their current facility limitations for their close-up cows.
Halahan noted that while it would be quite costly to feed the product throughout the dry period, it is very inexpensive to use it to support late-period dry cows for the last few weeks of their pregnancies.
“Sometimes those close-up cows have a hard time getting up to eat, and you’re not having the intakes you want,” shared Halahan. “If you have the right diet and the cows are actually eating the feed, you’re probably going to have transition success.”
