We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
It’s hot enough these days to fry an egg on the hood of a tractor. Heat stress is a major issue, even in Canada. Yet not much is said about the negative effects of heat stress in calves. Most of our effects focus on cooling the adult milking cows. However, heat stress can also negatively impact the calves. If the calf’s dam was heat stressed during the dry period, the negative consequences could last a lifetime.
Recent research from dairy universities (such as Cornell University) suggests we’re still unsure of the “best” protocols for supplementing fresh dairy cows with calcium.
Zero lameness is not about never having a cow go lame. We know if there are cows, there will be a time when one of them will become lame. But how we respond to that event will determine whether that cow will become part of the chronic lameness problem our industry is experiencing.
For the first time in over 40 years, updates to animal transport regulations were planned to take effect in February. However, an amendment provided for a two-year grace period until Feb. 20, 2022.
As a nutritionist, continually evaluating the dairy ration and cow comfort is critical to maintaining a producer’s production goals, especially in hot summer months.
Recently, Health Canada extensively reviewed footbath products containing copper sulphate and zinc sulphate to determine whether they require drug identification number (DIN) registration or if they can be classified as a “veterinary health product” (VHP) in Canada.
More than 1,500 records comparing lameness and lesion presence data among Alberta freestall herds reveals most cows with lameness have a lesion. However, not all cows with a lesion are lame.
Canada’s dairy industry has made great progress in access and usage of data available on-farm in the past years. Information on milk, specifically data on milk component and urea analysis at each delivery, can improve our knowledge of the feed efficiency of our herds and dramatically speed up the response time to a change.
The modern dairy cow is a model of remarkable productive efficiency. In high-producing dairy herds with annual average milk production levels in excess of 15,000 kilograms per cow, 75% or more of the energy consumed is translated into milk production and other functions beyond maintenance.
RSS
