Dairy Basics
Dairy Basics: Featured article
How accurate is that initial data? It depends on whether the animal was actually weighed as opposed to the frequently used 'eyeball estimation.' The adage, "You can't manage it if you don't measure it," certainly applies to heifer growth. Growth Monitoring Monitoring heifer growth, through weight and height, is an important practice for managing the heifer enterprise and the dairy herd overall. It is comparable to collecting milk production data in the milking herd. The most us...
How many dairy producers know how much their heifers weigh at birth, weaning, breeding, and calving? In too many herds the first time that a weight is recorded is when a heifer calves.
How accurate is that initial data? It depends on whether the animal was actually weighed as opposed to the frequently used 'eyeball estimation.' The adage, "You can't manage it if you don't measure it," certainly applies to heifer growth. Growth Monitoring Monitoring heifer growth, through weight and height, is an important practice for managing the heifer enterprise and the dairy herd overall. It is comparable to collecting milk production data in the milking herd. The most us...
Reproduction & Breeding
In the last few years, genomics has become a common term in dairy breeding. Many articles have been written and even more discussions have taken place about this new technology. Genomics is an important addition to the methods that were already used in the evaluation of sires and cows.
Feed & Nutrition
Numerous publications highlight the importance of the transition period in milk production and disease risk. During the last 3 weeks of the dry period and the first 3 weeks of lactation, dairy cows experience challenges with feed intake, an increased risk of metabolic disease such as ketosis and milk fever, and an increased risk of infectious disease such as metritis and mastitis
Herd Health
For decades, the legal limit for the bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) in the U.S. has been 750,000 cells/mL. Above which, producers cannot ship their milk for sale. However, there has been a movement to lower the legal limit.
March 6th 2012
January 16th 2012
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