Decreasing Early Lactation Culling:
The Non-Nutritional Factors

The longevity of your cows is the essential for the profitability of the operation.

Early lactation culling is particularly costly. In 2003, in Minnesota DHIA herds, 8.6% of cows calving left before 60 days in milk (DIM) (Godden et al., 2003). This is 25% of all cows that were culled in these herds. Health disorders during the transition period is the main reason for these departures.

Traditionally, when fresh cows were thrown off their projected potential the focus turned to the nutritional aspect of the farm. Recent studies however have focused on the non- traditional factor to help explain the early lactation culling. If fresh cows are not performing as expected and the traditional avenues have been explored, evaluation of the following area may need to be explored.

Stocking Density - If cows are too crowded in the fresh group, they won’t be getting the feed that they need to get going on a great start.

Pen Moves for Transition Cows - Moving cows too frequently can have a negative effect on the social stabilization of the cow. If the cows are not stable, milk production as well as behaviour of the cows can be effected.

Calm Cow Handling - Allowing the cows to remain calm, by easy stress free interaction with humans will allow will relax and recover from the calving process as well as produce more milk.

Appropriate Intervention at Calving - Calm cow handling goes hand and hand with this point. Intervention often times comes too soon and is overly aggressive. This behaviour by personal can increase the risk of injury in the cow as well as the calf. Calm behaviour can reduce the degree of difficulty and speed the calving process.

If you are culling more cows than you should at under 60 days in milk, analyzing these non-nutritional factors on your operation may help you reduce this unnecessary loss and take action to correct the problem.

Sourced from: Keep Cows Happy and Healthy- Decreasing Early Lactation Culling: Non-nutritional factors? Jim A. Salfer and Marcia I. Endres Web:www.extension.umn.edu/dairy/05dairydays/early-lactation-culling-dairyday05.pdf

Feeding Behavior and the Risk for Metritis

An interesting report on feeding behavior during transition and the risk for metritis was published in the August issue of the Journal of Dairy Science. The authors from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver observed that when cows spent less time eating beginning two weeks prior to calving and extending to three weeks after calving they were more likely to be diagnosed with metritis. A conclusion was that for every ten minute decrease in average feeding time there was a two fold increase in the incidence of metritis.

Field observations have consistently shown that when pre and post fresh animals have less than three feet of bunk space and pen densities exceed 80%, there is an increase in metabolic disease incidence. This research supports these observations and should be useful in helping to lower the incidence of peripartum metabolic disease. Segregation of first lactation animals from mature cows and attention to animal density and feed bunk space can play an important role in a sound transition program.

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Posted Oct 10th

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