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Management practices and nutritional strategies during the transition period have a significant impact on the health and productivity of the dairy cow and, as a consequence, influence both the profitability and longevity of the herd.
A healthy dairy cow herd is paramount to the success of a productive dairy operation. To address and maintain strong herd health, a multitude of factors are to be considered.
The use of a laboratory to identify and diagnose mastitis has been in practice for decades by veterinary practitioners focused on animal health in dairy production animals. As such, it remains one of the most powerful tools to this day in achieving excellent udder health.
Each case of mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation can be extremely costly to the dairy. Direct economic losses include diagnostics and treatment, veterinary fees, milk withhold and death loss.
The optimal dry period length remains a topic of practical interest and scientific study. Short dry period lengths reduce milk, fat and protein yield in the next lactation but allow for more milk harvested in the current lactation.
Larger farms struggle to effectively use individual cow alerts because there is little they can do to turn the information into action, but they are instead increasingly using pen-level insights to drive management decisions.
Nutritional management is vital to overall herd health and productivity. As we are learning more and more about how the connection between nutrition and efficiency begins at birth, we know it’s critical to deliver the necessary nutrients to each cow, at the correct stage of life, to maintain optimal output.
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