Bovine lameness ranks third among the leading causes of cows leaving their herd.

Milk cows experience high levels of stress at the time of calving and the weeks that follow. More often than not this extra stress manifests itself as metabolic problems such as milk fever, mastitis, retained placenta, ketosis, displaced abomasum or laminitis.

With the new year, we tend to strive for positive change and set goals to help us achieve this change. This idea can be applied to a transition cow program.

More dairy cows have been dying, but treating them as individuals instead of groups could help.

Milking equipment function can have a profound negative impact on teat-end health and overall milk quality.

Editor’s note: In a previous Progressive Dairyman article, veterinarian Bruce Hoffman discussed the importance of identifying and eliminating persistently infected BVD animals.

Hoof issues leading to lameness (failure to have a normal locomotion gait) is recognized as a problem in the dairy industry, prevalent in herds of all sizes and facility type.

Dairy producers should be prepared for cold weather conditions that can affect young stock and lactating cows, a South Dakota State University specialist said.

There is a growing body of evidence that associates cow cleanliness, or hygiene, and mastitis. Cleaner cows are a lower risk for a mastitis incident than dirty cows.

With the arrival of winter weather, many producers recognize the need to re-think milking strategies by implementing revised operating procedures to maintain udder health and milk quality. During winter, especially in northern climates, extremely cold and windy conditions contribute to excessive drying of the teat skin, which normally leads to chapping and other skin irritations. Freezing wind chill temperatures can result in frostbite. Even in such harsh weather conditions there is hope; your selection of teat dips may help reduce the risks associated with these cold and windy conditions.