Herd Health
Have you ever had a cow come down with a disease while she was pregnant? Probably so. But does that illness impact the calf? Maybe not.
As one of the top scourges to calf raisers, cryptosporidium is an ever-present challenge that rarely takes a holiday.
The intricacies of transition-cow nutrition and its role in lactation success may be made a bit easier with the Liver Functionality Index.
Calves with navel infections will present wet or pus ridden navel cords and their navel areas will be swollen, hard, and painful to the touch.
Switching to autofeeders and group housing is a significant change that has been met on dairies with both success and failure.
Transitioning to freestalls can be challenging for young heifers, and behaviors learned early in life can carry through as cows enter the lactating herd.
It appears that making sure dry cows are comfortable and encouraged to rest influences the survival of their newborns.
Here’s a breakdown of just how much these seven transition period diseases could be costing you.
To keep an efficient and profitable reproductive program humming, proactive reproductive management practices need to be practiced daily.
Most uterine prolapses occur immediately after birth and nearly always within 24 hours of delivery.
Winter ushers in a season of high tide for scours and pneumonia in preweaned calves. The sooner their sickness is detected, the more effective treatment and supportive therapy will be. Here’s a list of 10 ways to help.
“The more we understand about how specific nutrition components influence health and performance responses, the more we can support cows in their production cycles.”
Feeding practices can have a tremendous impact on herd health and production.
Three dairy producers discuss how efficiencies and technology play a role on their farm and how the industry needs to continue to evolve and adapt for future farmers in the next 10 to 20 years.
Over-conditioned cows that lose weight after calving subsequently have lower fertility, produce fewer quality embryos and face higher rates of health problems.
In a dairy freestall barn, stocking density is most typically defined in terms of cows per stall or used as a percentage.
Growing dairy heifers efficiently, without allowing them to get overly fat, is a longstanding nutritional challenge. Calf and heifer expert Dr. Jim Quigley weighs in on how to avoid fat deposition in the mammary tissue
If you or an employee treats an animal with a drug, it’s important to keep adequate and updated treatment records.
The incidence of transition-cow diseases has budged little, and these maladies – mastitis, metritis, retained placenta, and poor fertility – continue to make up about 75% of all mature dairy cow diseases.
The dry period is a time to allow a cow to rest and prepare herself for the next lactation. However, the drying off process can be incredibly stressful for the animal.
Born with very little natural immunity, a calf’s odds are stacked against it from the moment it hits the ground.
Raising healthy, well-grown replacement heifers that turn into profitable, reliable cows does not have to be complicated, but it does have to be consistent.
Growing the ideal heifer is an ever-changing goal. A research team from Penn State University and the University of Florida recently explored the impact of bodyweight at first calving on milk yield and herd longevity.
The onset of fall marks the return of nuisance birds to dairy farms and feedlots in cooler climates.
Anticipated tight supply and higher prices for vitamin E may require dairy managers and their nutritionists to dial back vitamin E inclusion rates in rations, or seek alternative options.
Optimizing productivity and improving efficiency are top goals that are talked about in farm meetings. The big-ticket question is, “What can help a dairy producer launch their operation to the next level?”
As awareness of animal welfare grows, new methods of detecting and evaluating stress and pain in calves are being evaluated. Researchers are exploring heart rate variability as an accurate, non-invasive assessment tool.
What does feed hygiene mean to you and your dairy? How often is it looked at or discussed with the feed team and barn crew?
They’re a danger to milk cows, to be sure. But mycotoxins in feedstuffs also can be damaging to the health and development of calves and heifers.
While the milking herd is usually given top priority in management efforts, dry cows and springing heifers are arguably the more important groups to protect from heat.