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Optimizing fresh cow health and performance in our modern dairies is one of the most challenging and, at the same time, one of the most rewarding tasks for veterinarians, nutritionists and dairymen.
The economic value of a cow is maximized when she has an easy calving and encounters no obstacles to realizing her genetic milk production potential. Unfortunately, the time around calving can be hazardous to a cow’s health.
Management of the dry cow is critical to avoiding diseases around calving that affect the lactation and thus have a major economic impact.
Getting cows and heifers off to a good start at the beginning of lactation is critical for the profitability of the dairy. Even with all the advances in nutrition and veterinary care, freshening and the onset of lactation are very stressful for dairy cows.
Fresh cows are susceptible to a number of infections and metabolic disorders due to stress, low immunity and reduced dry matter intake. Two of the most common metabolic disorders in fresh cows are milk fever and ketosis.
Etiology of fatty liver and ketosis
Fatty liver syndrome and ketosis are metabolic disorders that result from intense fat mobilization during hormonal changes and negative energy balance associated with the transition period. The liver is an extremely important metabolic organ in transition dairy cows.
What level of ketones defines ketosis?
Defining an exact level at which ketones are too high has been something of an enigma. Ketosis is a threshold disease, meaning cows will be affected only after a certain level has been reached. The mean level of ketone bodies for a population of animals in a herd means little.
Furthermore, because some of the manifestations of ketosis occur later, it is more difficult to study. Most research studies are based on blood betahydroxybutyrate (BHB), which is considered the “gold standard” in testing.
In a previous article, we reviewed the fact that hypocalcemia (milk fever) and ketosis are by far the two most important diseases to consider for early-lactation cows.
I consider these to be “iceberg diseases,” meaning that we only see the tip of the iceberg (typically about 2 to 5 percent of all dairy cows that calve exhibit clinical symptoms for each disease). See Figure 1 below left.
On the other hand, various research studies show, on average, the subclinical rates of these two diseases may average about 40 percent each in today’s dairy cows.
Keeping your fresh cows healthy is critical for both a profitable lactation and for timely rebreeding. To achieve this, some forward planning and proactive interventions will be required and should start as early as during the last third of a cow’s previous lactation.
This is when the pregnant cow’s body score needs to be assessed and action taken accordingly. On a scale of 1 (extremely thin) to 5 (extremely fat), your aim is to dry her off at an ideal body score of around 3.5.
Reproductive performance starts long before the cow is confirmed pregnant. While producers rely on metrics to evaluate their reproduction program, many factors – like nutrition, environment and health – directly contribute to an animal’s ability to conceive and maintain the pregnancy.
One factor that continues to have direct impact on herd performance and profitability is uterine health.
The most profitable cow on the dairy is the fresh cow. The most productive cow on the dairy is the fresh cow. The more fresh cows a dairy has at any given time, the higher the herd’s milk average will be.
On many dairies, however, preparing the close-up cow for her subsequent lactation is often an area that is overlooked. Poorly functioning rumens and metabolic diseases will rob the cow and the dairy farmer of the most efficiently produced milk of the lactation.
High grain prices have many dairy producers and their nutritionists sharpening their pencils, looking for ways to reduce feed costs. One option is to replace a portion of the supplemental corn grain with high-quality corn silage that provides highly digestible fiber and contains more energy in the forage fraction, compared with silage made from grain corn hybrids.
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