Although lameness has multifactoral causes, an intense lameness prevention program will minimize losses and save cows. Lameness prevention protocol includes: •Observe cows daily for lameness. •Detect lameness early through locomotion scoring.

Death is one of the major reasons cows leave dairy herds. The National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) 2002 survey reported a death rate in the national herd of 4.8 percent. This rate has increased since bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found in the United States in 2003, and it subsequently became illegal to sell down and disabled cattle in 2004.

During last year’s heat wave in California, dairyman Greg Anema of Ontario, California discovered the two coolest places on his dairy – the breezeway in his parlor and a kiddie pool under a shade tree close to the milk barn. He also found out how his cows try to cool off. “I’ve got young children and while they were playing in the hose I jumped in,” Anema says. “It was a way to just try to cool off.”

Antibiotic residues in milk and dairy beef are an important food safety issue. Dairy owners, managers and employees play a major role in food safety and in shaping consumers’ perceptions about food. Antibiotics in milk and beef may cause severe allergic reactions in persons with antibiotic sensitivity. In the dairy processing plant, antibiotics in milk can interfere with cheese and yogurt production.

Editor’s note: The following benchmarks have been compiled using data reported by dairies enrolled in Alta Genetic’s AltaAdvantage program, a progeny testing program. More than 182,500 cows in 175 herds participate in the program nationwide.

Editor’s note: The following section includes commentary from questions posed to Dr. Richard Holliday, a holistic veterinarian. To ask your own question, e-mail the question to editor@progressivedairy.com. Answers to submissions will be printed in Progressive Dairyman’s October organics section. “Hey, Doc, waddaya got for mastitis?” is a question posed by dairymen everywhere. I wish I had a good answer. Treatments range from frequent stripping out of the udder to the newest antibiotic or immune stimulant. Fortunately, many treatments are successful. But some treatments only suppress the symptoms, and when the effect of the treatment wears off the symptoms return with a vengeance. Unfortunately, any success with treatment often interferes with the need or desire to address the actual cause of the problems. Holistic veterinary medicine may have some insights into this problem – insights often overlooked by today’s dairymen.

Salmonellosis is a disease of all animals caused by the genus Salmonellae and usually characterized by one or more of three major syndromes: 1) Septicemia (a blood infection) 2) Acute enteritis (infection and inflammation of the intestinal tract) 3) Chronic enteritis (a long-term infection and inflammation of the intestinal tract)

The transition period, extending from approximately three weeks prior to calving to about 40 days after calving, includes the time frame during which the overwhelming majority of dairy cow diseases occur.

Lameness is an economically important problem in dairy cattle worldwide. Economic losses resulting from lameness arise not only from the cost to treat clinical cases but also from decreased milk production, decreased reproductive efficiency and premature culling. New York researchers estimate the average cost of lameness per 100 cows per year to be nearly $9,000. The average incidence was 30 cases per 100 cows per year with a case fatality rate of 2 percent, involuntary culling rate of 20 percent and increase in average days open of 29 days. The National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) Dairy 1996 study revealed that 15 percent of dairy cows were culled due to lameness or injury.

Your cows don’t talk, but they can be communicating some very important messages. Are you listening? The way cows behave can tell us a lot about how the cattle are handled, how comfortable their facilities are and if management is causing or reducing stress. It’s easy to write off a cow’s opinion since college-trained people have scientifically taken care of all her nutritional and housing needs. Cow-handling skills are not considered because the cow is confined in a barn and we can make her go where we want. Here are some reasons why we need to pay attention to our cows’ behavior.