Throughout a cow’s life cycle, the transition period is the most critical stage to maintain so that she may be productive during the subsequent lactation, but it is often the trickiest for commercial dairy producers to manage. Turbulent transition periods will limit profitability of the cow for her entire lactation by decreasing milk yield and reproductive success while causing an unforgiving amount of health problems.

In recent decades, genetic advancement has improved milk production and composition but at the cost of fertility and life span. At the beginning of lactation, cows have high energy requirements due to an increase in milk production. When a cow is unable to consume enough energy, excessive body fat mobilization will occur, resulting in loss of body condition, indicating a negative energy balance.

Freestall barn design concepts center around optimizing stall occupancy each day while minimizing bed contamination. Four pieces of stall anatomy serve to achieve this by positioning the cow correctly in the stall: the divider loop, neck rail, brisket locator and deterrent wire.

Effective ventilation and cooling of dairy housing facilities are keys to keeping cows safe and productive, lessening health risks and protecting your bottom line. But finding the right fit for your farm depends on a host of factors, including facility design, geography and building orientation. In search of a solution? Here are some common questions and answers about cooling and ventilation to get you started.

Lameness, tetracycline residues and common foot ailments were among the trending topics at the 2014 Hoof Health Conference. University experts, including Dr. Chuck Guard from Cornell University, Dr. Nigel Cook from University of Wisconsin – Madison and Dr. Gerard Cramer from University of Minnesota, shared their research and observations with an international audience of hoof health professionals gathered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, in July.

Every dairy farmer has an overabundance of demands on both time and mind. It’s a very easy (and expensive) mistake to neglect to pay attention to the hooves and mobility of animals. While there are many management practices that can control and reduce lameness in the herd, there is really no “one-time quick fix” practice that is effective.